Featur image via Official Charts
Where does a veteran of the music industry turn to for inspiration when they want to re-introduce themselves to the world?
Maybe they wait for Saturn to return, spend a long period of time filming a movie or address critics in the media. If you’re Ariana Grande, you do all three and then some.
The 30-year-old compiled these inspirations and tactics into her seventh album eternal sunshine, which is arguably her most complex project to date.
The first major inspiration on the album is the 2004 film starring Jim Carrey, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” which is directly referenced in the title. Grande revealed that she is a fan of the movie, and Carrey, after guest-starring on the actor’s show “Kidding” in 2019.
“Thankful for the most special experience of my life.” Grande said according to a Twitter post “Nothing is crazier than getting to work with and spend time with someone whom you’ve idolized and adored since before you could speak. Actually, what’s even crazier is discovering that person to be more special and warm and generous in person than you ever could’ve imagined.”
In a different world, we would not have gotten a new album from Grande for a couple more years. But after the SAG-AFTRA strike forced the filming of “Wicked” to pause temporarily, Grande threw herself into the studio and let everything pour out. After about three months, eternal sunshine was born. Grande has also said how the time she spent filming “Wicked” and playing her dream role of Glinda made her appreciate her own music more.
The singer also has talked about how making eternal sunshine helped her create the distinction between “Ari the performer” and “Ari the person,” as she used to be consumed by her performer image like many others.
That said, eternal sunshine is Grande’s way of peeling back the high-ponytail, tall boots persona adopted by millions and exposing fans to her most emotional and vulnerable side yet. Grande has even said she wrote songs for eternal sunshine when she was in a very emotional place.
She’s also talked about repairing her broken relationship with touring, so in a way, this album is also an exhibition of Grande falling in love with music again.
Sonically the album is softer than Grande’s past works. Her singing is more simple and her beats less bouncy. While some songs are not the most appealing sonically — “imperfect for you” and “ordinary things” — the message is there.
Both are filled with sweet sentiments of accepting one’s perfect imperfections and wanting to share all of life’s moments with someone else.
Grande’s vocal acrobatics are definitely not as noticeable as her last work (“Positions”), but there are still moments where her full voice and signature whistle tone are as clear as day.
Therefore eternal sunshine marks a departure from bangers like “Break Free” and “Into You” and bears more resemblance to songs like “Love Me Harder” and “Best Mistake.”
In fact, Co-President of Republic Records Wendy Goldstein described the record as an “elevated version” of Grande’s past albums and combination of “Sweetener” and “thank u, next.”
Examples of this sound are best exhibited on songs like “eternal sunshine,” “i wish i hated you,” “don’t wanna break up again” and “the boy is mine.”
The latter is a Max Martin production that is easily identifiable by its bass-heavy instrumentation similar to that of late 1990’s and early 2000’s R&B music.
Grande considers the song to have “bad bitch” energy and told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that “there is a large group of my fans that really do love a bad girl anthem, and this is an elevated version of that.”
The more upbeat tracks on eternal sunshine include “bye” and “supernatural.” The album’s lead singles “yes, and?” and “we can’t be friends” fall into this category as well.
The former is Grande’s very direct answer to critics talking about her business and body wrapped in an 1980s-inspired dance production. The music video for “yes, and?” draws inspiration from Paula Adbul’s video for “Cold Hearted” as well.
On a different note, the music video for “we can’t be friends” is incredibly emotional and even frightening. Grande goes to great lengths to capture the concept of not wanting to erase someone from your life, but having to, as well as the struggles associated with letting go.
That is also a common theme throughout the album. The purpose of eternal sunshine is to showcase love as a double-edged sword. Grande has even said that the seven different artworks “capture the emotional ups and downs of the album.”
These ups and downs are xx with Grande’s journey to answer the question she asks at the start of the album, “how do I know if I’m in the right relationship?”
By the end, she gets an answer from her beloved Nonna and her friend who basically say that if you can’t go to bed without kissing goodnight, then you aren’t in the right relationship. Grande also praised the power of family members helping simplify situations we commonly overthink.
From top to bottom, eternal sunshine is filled with deeper meanings and intentional production choices. If you can get swing through these sometimes scary and confusing waters, then you can emerge with new pearls of wisdom from the “Ari-verse.”
You can watch a full review of the album below:
On Rotation Podcast 
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