Ariana Grande makes an emotional return to pop music with ‘eternal sunshine’

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With a budding musical career in the 2010s, contemporary pop princess Ariana Grande cemented an admirable presence in the music industry. With albums like “Yours Truly” and “My Everything,” Grande focused on dissecting romance’s ever-changing nature, from blossoming affection to unconditional and unrequited love, all through glamorous, sparkling beats.

She has since refined both her lyrical and musical craft. After a nearly four-year hiatus from releasing an LP, she returns with “eternal sunshine,” her seventh studio album and her latest release since 2020’s “Positions.”

The new album is wise and effervescent, yet filled with heartache. Grande’s masterpiece addresses sentiments from her past marriage and articulates current feelings in a post-divorce life. “I don’t wanna tiptoe, but I don’t wanna hide/ But I don’t wanna feed this monstrous fire/ Just wanna let this story die/ And I’ll be alright,” she sings on the celestial breakup song “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).”

Director Michel Gondry’s 2004 sci-fi romance “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” starring Jim Carrey loosely inspired Grande’s album. In the story, two exes undergo a procedure to purge their memories of one another after a harsh breakup.

Grande’s interpretation of the film is most clear on the album’s title track: “I try to wipe my mind,” Grande sings, “I’d rather forget than know for sure/ What we could’ve fought through behind this door.” Her lyrics reflect her attempts to rid her memory of a past relationship, only to create an entire album detailing its phases.

Grande takes listeners through a 13-song journey of uncertainty, empowerment and acceptance. Opening with the brief “intro (end of the world),” she sings “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?/ Aren’t you really supposed to know that sh*t?” Her questions are answered on the disco-esque track “bye.” With bouncy synthesizers, Grande shakes off the past and enjoys a new era of dancing solo, “Bye-bye, I’m takin’ what’s mine/ Bye-bye, it’s over, it’s over.”

In a new age, Grande, with the help of iconic Swedish pop songcrafters Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, curates a sound defined by ethereal pop melodies that strategically move her further from the typical whisper notes and passive humor found on Grande’s last two albums “Positions” and “thank u, next.” She encapsulates sophisticated lyricism and rhythm, reaching far beyond an expansive vocal capacity and keeping perseverance and self-reinvention at the album’s core.

On the album’s third track “don’t wanna break up again,” Grande sings, “I don’t want to f*ck with your head/ It’s breaking my heart/ To keep breaking yours again/ This situationship has to end/ But I just can’t refuse/ I don’t want to break up again.” She shares why there is no chance for repair between her and her former partner and that there must be a definite separation. The song’s lyrics of an on-and-off relationship reflects her understanding of the love she once shared, but that she must move on.

Grande fuses pop and R&B rhythms reminiscent of the ‘90s and early 2000s on tracks like “the boy is mine,” a nod to Monica and Brandy’s 1998 song of the same name, even collaborating with mentor Mariah Carey on a house-inspired hit on the album which released before the album, of “yes, and?”

Amid a whirlwind of media attention — a divorce from ex-husband Dalton Gomez, earning a starring role in a movie adaptation of Broadway’s “Wicked,” then beginning a turbulent romantic relationship with co-star Ethan Slater — Grande released the album. Painted a “homewrecker,” she teases this perception on a mid-tempo track “true story.”

“I’ll be the one you love to hate, can’t relate/ Too much on my plate/ See it in your eyes/ You got too much time/ For fun, you like to pray for my demise/ But I’ll play whatever part you need me to,” Grande sings.

However, Grande creates a satisfying conclusion to “eternal sunshine” with pieces of wisdom from her grandmother, Nonna. On “ordinary things,” Grande sings of the little moments that make a relationship invaluable. Nonna’s voice shares a bit about her own relationship in the song’s end: “Never go to bed without kissin’goodnight/ That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that.” It’s possible to face the hard times while cherishing the love, and Nonna leaves listeners with this token of hope.

Grande’s “eternal sunshine” presents fans with a refreshing version of the artist — a more intentional version with messages that reclaim her truth. The project is all-embracing, forging a path for Grande to grapple with emotional ebbs and flows, while giving voice to listeners who’ve experienced romance, betrayal, heartbreak, reconciliation, grief or self-love.