Ever since I was a kid, I haven’t been able to look away from Ariana Grande. Aside from her beauty and her acting career, she has a musical magnetism that has always touched me. When I first met her, “Focus” had just been released — that song would later be called a flop by chart watchers, and Grande would abandon the entire concept in favor of what would become the album. Dangerous woman. “Focus” would not be added until the end of the Japanese edition of the album. In the years that followed Dangerous womanUpon release, she would begin perfecting every part of her craft, writing and co-writing hits for herself and other singers, while also shining as a producer and singer.
eternal sun, Grande’s new project presents a constellation of the singer’s questions, memories, anxieties and hopes, as the project addresses both Grande’s divorce and her experiences under public scrutiny while entering a new relationship.
On the album’s first track, “intro (end of the world),” Grande begins with a question: “How do you know if you’re in the right relationship?” Grande’s lyrics excel when they’re simple and honest, incredibly moving, and dominated by the questions and anxieties of a dying relationship. “I don’t know,” she sings, “Then I had this interaction that I’ve been thinking about for about five weeks/I wonder if he’s thinking about it too and smiling.” The melody pairs perfectly with the lyrics; it is a premonition of what is to come. Grande’s album intros have always been strong, and the eternal sun is perhaps one of the strongest we’ve seen.
eternal sunpop songs mark a departure from Posts” R&B sound and trap beats. The tracks “bye” and “don’t wanna break up again” juxtapose upbeat production with uncertain lyrics. On “I Don’t Wanna Break Up Again,” listeners watch a scene unfold between Grande and her ex-husband: “I fall asleep crying/You turn on the TV/You don’t want to hear me,” she says Later, a demarcation is made between the past and the future of the relationship. “Courtney [Grande’s best friend Courtney Chipolone] I just pulled into the driveway,” she sings. Grande takes her things and finally leaves with her best friend. In many ways the album reminds me of Kacey Musgraves. crossed star, a similar project on divorce. Both albums play out as a collage of diary entries, cataloging the struggles of navigating adulthood while watching a public marriage break up in front of them. Musgraves’ “Justified” uses a similar present-tense narrative structure, as the singer confronts the realities of her divorce in real time.
But over time, Grande begins to heal. The scintillating production of ‘Supernatural’ offers a new look at the world of eternal sun while Grande falls in love again. “No, it doesn’t even bother me at all,” she admits of the feeling of love that washes over her. Grande’s vocal layering takes the listener on a melodic whirlwind around the stars. The song is a shimmering piece of hope after the five relatively somber tracks that precede it. Tracks like “imperfect for you,” which follow toward the end of the album, are similar descriptions of Grande’s new relationship, which she describes as one built on mutual support and care.
Although thematically focused on the singer’s divorce, many songs on eternal sun are aimed at Grande’s fans and audience. The four songs ranging from “True Story” to “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” speak to its audience in different ways. Some songs are casual, with “yes, and?” asking “Why do you care so much whose dick I’m riding?”, while others reveal Grande’s discomfort and sadness over her precarious position in the public eye. “[W]We can’t be friends,” she realizes, “but I’d just like to pretend/You hold on to your papers and your pens/Wait until you love me again.”
Album structure and pacing is an underrated art, but eternal sun really excels in this regard. It swings and weaves between emotions in a way that doesn’t feel disjointed, but rather deeply human. (As Kacey Musgraves once sang, “Healing doesn’t happen in a straight line”). It’s remarkable to see the peaks and valleys that Grande goes through over the course of the 35-minute runtime, and while the album feels short, it doesn’t feel rushed. The length feels thoughtful, part of the aesthetic element that makes the project feel like a letter, a snapshot of a moment.
eternal sun is a postcard taken from Grande’s memories – dreamy and multifaceted, sometimes overwhelmed with melancholy – only to reappear from the sparkling waters of affection and new-found life.
