Here comes the sun! At long last, Ariana Grande‘s Eternal Sunshine has arrived on all platforms, marking the Grammy winner’s seventh studio album and first LP since 2020’s Billboard 200-topping Positions.
Introduced by “Yes, And?” — a Max Martin-helmed house track that debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 (chart dated Jan. 27), marking Grande’s sixth song to do so — Eternal Sunshine is an intensely personal reflection on her divorce from Dalton Gomez, the persepctive-shifting changes of her Saturn Return and the messiness of memory. Also informed, in part, by the writers’ strike that temporarily upended production on her upcoming Wicked movies, Eternal Sunshine arrives at critical juncture for Ariana’s career and person. Now seven albums deep, she’s something of an elder stateswoman of pop music. She also entered her thirties amid the demise of marriage that occured against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Clearly, she’s had a lot going on. Eternal Sunshine exists not out of convenience, but out of necessity; this is a collection of music that feels like Grande couldn’t keep in the vault even if she tried.
As such, it’s no surprise that Saturn Returns and the Oscar-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are the grounding motifs of Grande’s new record. The former is an astrological phenomenon that describes the mental clarity a person gains while entering their thirties, and the latter is a film that explores the intricacies of fate, love, and memory as it relates to an ever-evolving romantic relationship.
With Eternal Sunshine, Grande deepends her career-long exploration of pop and R&B with devastating self-penned lyrics that reveal remarkable personal growth. From noting her visits to therapy to playing into the “bad girl” role she’s often forced into and acknowledging her own shortcomings as a lover and partner, Eternal Sunshine is the most bare Ariana has ever laid her heart and mind on a musical release. Across 13 tracks crafted in collaboration with Max Martin, Ilya, Shintaro Yasuda, Nick Lee, Peter Kahm, Oscar Görres and David Park, Grande has delivered a commendable body of work that both expands her artistic and sonic horizons in myriad ways.
Here’s how Billboard ranks each track on Eternal Sunshine.
