eternal sunshine
Ariana Grande is used to being in the spotlight, but over time, she’s gotten savvy at playing it. The pop star’s seventh studio album *eternal sunshine*—a lightly conceptual riff on the head-spinning 2004 film starring Jim Carrey, of whom Grande has said she’s a lifelong fan—feels like a mind game itself, blurring the lines between real-life references and theatrical bits. It arrives in the middle of a whirlwind tabloid-packed stretch—Grande married, divorced, and scored a starring role in Hollywood’s big-screen adaptation of *Wicked*—and she knows fans have questions. What’s true? What’s real? Ari gives a lot of things on this album, but answers aren’t one of them, a cunning reminder of how little transparency celebrities actually owe us. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Grande leans into the project’s thematic murkiness. “true story,” she says, is “an untrue story based on all untrue events,” and when asked about her own experience with the Saturn return, an astrology milestone referenced in the album’s only interlude, she shrugs. “It was chill. Nothing changed. Pretty uneventful.” She says she finds freedom in art because “you can really pull from anywhere,” and she describes the film as another “lovely costume” to wear. Her answers have flickers of defiance that feel like power. Whoever said albums had to be tidy, or true? “It doesn’t have to be an everlasting love story,” she tells Lowe. “Love is complicated. Showcasing both sides of it is what I tried to \[do\].” If there’s one thing these tracks make clear, it’s that she’s still Ari on the mic—she’s still hitting those high highs (“eternal sunshine”); still finding release on the dance floor (“yes, and?”); still sifting gold out of ’90s R&B (“the boy is mine”), a sequel to the leaked 2023 track “fantasize.” Her favorite? “imperfect for you,” a tribute to the friends who make up her inner circle. “We’re so lucky to have loved ones who are accepting and real with us no matter what,” she says. “We live in a time where everything is boiled down, but that song demands room for nuance, humanness, and complexity.”
The pop star returns with a restrained, slightly scattered, but emotionally generous album that cycles through the collapse of one relationship and into the hopeful beginning of another.
The pop star returns with a restrained, slightly scattered, but emotionally generous album that cycles through the collapse of one relationship and into the hopeful beginning of another.
Ariana Grande's first album since 2020's horny but slightly boring ‘Positions’ is sophisticated break-up album worth losing yourself in.
The Max Martin-produced Eternal Sunshine is a solid addition to Ariana Grande’s discography but lands firmly in the middle of her career highs and lows.
Ariana Grande's first album since 2020's horny but slightly boring ‘Positions’ is sophisticated break-up album worth losing yourself in.
The Max Martin-produced Eternal Sunshine is a solid addition to Ariana Grande’s discography but lands firmly in the middle of her career highs and lows.
The newly divorced singer seems to address the rumours about her love life on an album of mid-tempo synths, strings and muted guitar
The newly divorced singer seems to address the rumours about her love life on an album of mid-tempo synths, strings and muted guitar
Ariana Grande pays tribute to the good times on her seventh album, 'Eternal Sunshine'. Read The Forty-Five review.
Ariana Grande pays tribute to the good times on her seventh album, 'Eternal Sunshine'. Read The Forty-Five review.
Ask the right questions and you might just get the answers you are looking for and with Ariana Grande’s new album ‘Eternal Sunshine’, she is queen of the
Ask the right questions and you might just get the answers you are looking for and with Ariana Grande’s new album ‘Eternal Sunshine’, she is queen of the
Post-divorce, the American pop star returns with a sumptuous collection that has just the right amount of bite
Post-divorce, the American pop star returns with a sumptuous collection that has just the right amount of bite
The themes of memory and romantic ambivalence are subtly dotted throughout Ariana Grande ‘Eternal Sunshine.’
The themes of memory and romantic ambivalence are subtly dotted throughout Ariana Grande ‘Eternal Sunshine.’
Ariana Grande has come into her own by embracing the parts of her creativity that resonate most with her ardent fanbase and being true to herself.
Ariana Grande has come into her own by embracing the parts of her creativity that resonate most with her ardent fanbase and being true to herself.
eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande album review by Sam Franzini for Northern Transmissions. The artist's full-length is now out via Republic
eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande album review by Sam Franzini for Northern Transmissions. The artist's full-length is now out via Republic
Amid intense and intrusive speculation about her private life, Grande wipes away the tears and tackles the big questions of adult life with maturity, compassion – and delicious gossip
Amid intense and intrusive speculation about her private life, Grande wipes away the tears and tackles the big questions of adult life with maturity, compassion – and delicious gossip
Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine review: eternal life is the intersection of the line of time in the plane of now (we live forever)
Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine review: eternal life is the intersection of the line of time in the plane of now (we live forever)
The pop star has made it clear she no longer cares what people think about her – luckily this silky, catchy album can only impress
The pop star has made it clear she no longer cares what people think about her – luckily this silky, catchy album can only impress
Efficiently calibrated pop from the global megastar brand. Review by Thomas H Green,
Efficiently calibrated pop from the global megastar brand. Review by Thomas H Green,