Eternal Sunshine - Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande has had an incredible year, not only due to her landing her lifelong dream role in the new Wicked movie but also due to the release of her long anticipated seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. This album has been a huge success of Grande, delivering three Grammy nominations and marked her sixth number one on the Billboard Top 200, with all of its tracks charting on the Billboard Hot 100. This has been a monumental year for Grande and Eternal Sunshine is one of her best albums to date.
There was a clear shift in Grande’s music in 2018, with the release of her album Sweetener, where her music became much more personal and felt much more authentic. As a fan and listener, I truly noticed the way that, for perhaps the first time, music truly became an escapist outlet for Grande and a way for her to heal. This in no way means that her previous releases were bad, as I mentioned I adore her music, however, her first two albums felt somewhat incohesive and experimental and although Dangerous Woman remains a timeless and broadly adored album, it still did lack the personal authenticity that is interwoven into all of Grande’s successive projects. Sweetener, Thank U Next and Positions were all successful albums in both their production, lyricism and their ability to capture the essence of Grande’s emotion and mindset at the time of release. Thankfully, Eternal Sunshine has continued this legacy of intimate albums whilst establishing its own identity.
Eternal Sunshine is a strong album both lyrically and in its production. The album is intrinsically Grande in its sound and messaging with raw lyrics layered over distinctive tracks that all combine into the cohesive final product. As would be expected from a Grande album, there is a symphony of layered harmonies alongside phenomenal vocals that showcases Grande’s indisputable talents and her annunciation on this album is so clear. It has also been amazing to see her ability to self produce and the talents she has acquired when working in the studio, I believe that this album has been a masterclass in how hands on an artist can be with the construction of every fibre of their art.
The album has a strong start, with one of the best album openings across her entire discography. The early placed intermission is the perfect segue from the breakdown of relationships into the healing process and the ability to love someone else, which is addressed in the songs following it. The way that it seamlessly transitions into the album’s titular track also emphasises not only the way that the sound byte summarises the overall album but also the way that the song Eternal Sunshine is really a song about accepting the downfall of relationships and marks the start of this healing process.
There is undoubtedly scope to say that the album is not necessarily groundbreaking in its structure nor is it genre bending or completely stand alone of anything that Grande has released beforehand. Grande has definitely found a sound that she is comfortable working with and that her fans respond to, even sometimes at the detriment of her musical evolution.
However, I would argue that the intention of this album was never to shatter genre conventions or completely rebrand her discography, but instead this album was intended to be her rebuttal to public controversy surrounding her name and offer her side of the story. She used her well known signature sound to create music that not only sounded authentic but also gave us a personal insight into aspects that were of huge media speculation. Grande has a signature sound that is somewhat versatile due to the fact that she has consistently been inspired by a range of artists and genres throughout her career that has amalgamated into her fresh feeling discography.
The two leading singles off the album ‘yes, and?’ and ‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’, were incredibly intelligent choices for Grande, as they directly address the treatment she has received and the relationship she has with the media. It creates a very strong, level-headed and self assured public facade, which was then complimented with her released of ‘the boy is mine’ which address rumours surrounding her love life and the public perception that circled her name at the time. In contrast, the rest of the album offers a more vulnerable approach. For example, towards the end of the album, the heartbreaking ‘i wish i hated you’ offers a timely break in an otherwise relentless string of songs about healing and moving forward. This ordering of the track list really solidifies the messaging of ‘eternal sunshine’ the cracks of reality in her otherwise delusion approach to cope with heartbreak and media hypothesises.
Eternal Sunshine is one of my favourite releases this year, it is a testament to Grande’s talents, as songwriter, producer and artist. It is a beautiful summation of her life in recent times and is honest, beautiful and a gift to music. Grande is solidifying her status as one of the very best artists of our generation and her music is continuously evolving whilst remaining very true and close to home for Grande.