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Katia Temkin*
Ariana Grande’s seventh album begins with a question that she spends the rest of the album trying to answer: “How do I know if I’m in the right relationship?” She five years ago, in her historical album in Thanks, next, it seemed certain that he would have already resolved that question; In the bridge of that album’s title track, he sang about hoping that when he finally walked down the aisle it would be his first and last time.
At 30, she’s less convinced she’ll ever know or understand how eternal love works. If you are waiting Sweetener-level of optimism eternal sun, that’s not what you’ll get: Grande’s latest is a gorgeously exposed journey to the end of her world, or at least what she believes is the end. It’s a divorce album that goes through all the stages of grief, and the singer navigates a new beginning with some of the most honest and inventive songs of her career thus far.
Grande is the first to eliminate the most intense feelings of anguish. After “Intro (End of the World)” poses the album’s central question, he spends the next two songs fighting for herself or her relationship. On “Bye,” she is more than ready to let herself go. She’s so ready that her friend Courtney is in the driveway waiting for the star to get into the car with her things. “Don’t Wanna Break Up Again” is a bit more uncertain; paints a portrait of a neglectful partner who she knows she has to leave but doesn’t want to give up on just yet. The first few songs take a bit of a ’70s pop approach, with Grande doing her best Diana Ross impression.
The title track, “Eternal Sunshine,” delves deeper into the pain. She wants to “wipe her mind,” like in the 2004 movie. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which gives name to the album and the song. Grande spins beautifully on the R&B-pop cut: “I’ll be the first to say I’m sorry/Now you make me feel sorry/I showed you all my demons, all my lies/Yet you played me like Atari.”
Getting over the pain is a little advice: “Saturn Returns Interlude” features a sample of astrologer Diana Garland’s dark YouTube video on why 29 is an important age. “Saturn comes and hits you on the head and says ‘Wake up! It’s time for you to get real about life and determine who they really are,’” Garland wisely offers. Grande takes this advice to heart from “Eternal Sunshine” onward. Alternate between moments of resilience, acceptance and hope for the future, however uncertain. As the lead single “Yes And?” (which is perhaps the weakest of the bunch compared to the rest of the album), “True Story” plays a bit with the public perception of her, with Grande offering to “play the villain” or “the bad girl” in the someone’s role check out a beat that sounds like something Timbaland would have made for Aaliyah.
“The Boy Is Mine,” sure to be a point of contention on Twitter given conversations surrounding the timeline of her relationship with current partner Ethan Slater, is another late-’90s/early-August R&B-pop moment. . It’s Grande’s turn on Brandy and Monica’s 1998 duet of the same name, but it actually feels more like an NSync-sampled sequel to “Break Up With Your Girlfriend.” Thanks, next with its propulsive, bass-laden rhythm.
The last four songs eternal sun They are some of the strongest of Grande’s career. “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” is as close to perfect as a great pop anthem can get. Grande’s vocal delivery is intimate and vulnerable alongside the Robyn-esque dance beat. It almost sounds like a love letter to the work of Max Martin, Grande’s main (and former) collaborator on the album, as well as to the great pop princesses she’s been associated with throughout her career.
She shows more restraint on “I Wish I Hated You,” an adult breakup reflection on the realization that even after it’s over, love will take longer to unravel. Although she has not worked with playwright Jason Robert Brown since Dangerous womanowes a lot to his own musical divorce post-mortem. The last five years.
At the end of the album, Grande comes as close as possible to answering her question from the beginning of the album. But she, like everyone else, recognizes the fact that it is foolish to understand how love works. Album closer “Ordinary Things” sums it all up, with a little help from her Nonna. Grande celebrates the simple pleasure of spending time with someone you care about. Her Nonna astutely points out how you can at least know when she’s done: “if you don’t feel comfortable” kissing them goodnight, even after a big fight, then “you’re in the wrong place… get out.” There is no better answer to life’s big questions than that.