Amid a turbulent controversy regarding her personal life, the likability of Ariana Grande’s new album “eternal sunshine” has been a hot subject of debate among fans and music listeners everywhere.
Fans awaited the album’s release for four years, eager to hear songs chronicling Grande’s divorce from real estate agent Dalton Gomez and her swift, controversial new relationship with the recently divorced Broadway star Ethan Slater. Grande has been widely labeled as a “homewrecker” and blamed for the dissolution of Slater’s marriage to his wife, Lilly Jay. The couple had recently welcomed their first child together.
Whether or not your opinion of the situation factors into that of the album, overall, “eternal sunshine” is lacking in certain areas such as songwriting, lyricism and vocals. Personally, I view it as a decline in the quality of Grande’s music.
On the bright side, the album’s unique sound is easily identifiable from Grande’s previous work. Producer Max Martin capitalized on the catchy pop rhythms that have characterized the singer’s recent releases.
That being said, the formulaic pop structure of songs like “yes, and?” and “don’t wanna break up again” confine Grande’s attempts at emotional vulnerability and lack creativity at times. The majority of the album’s choruses are short, predictable phrases, and the verses hint at deeper messages but ultimately end up falling short due to their brevity.
The songwriting remained surface level and didn’t take very many risks, exploring themes similar to ones that she has already written about in greater depth. In particular “ordinary things” felt unconvincing and shallow as it touched on Grande’s feelings toward her relationship with Slater. The song featured Nonna, whose performance did not add much to the song.
Unsurprisingly, topics throughout the album are a bit scattered, as Grande simultaneously reflects on her divorce and introduces a new romance. The order of the tracklist was slightly confusing, and the album went back and forth from breakup anthems to airy love songs to reflective ballads. On top of this, the last three songs on the album felt rather disengaging when juxtaposed with the first half of the record.
Although the album was well-produced, the melodic composition is overly simplistic. I would expect more originality from someone with Grande’s experience, and songs like “true story” feel sonically and thematically unextraordinary.
In terms of Grande’s performance, she has showcased her powerhouse vocals in past albums like “My Everything,” “Dangerous Woman” and even “sweetener.” As someone who prefers this era of her music, each chorus felt unsatisfying as I waited for her to break out of her breathy head voice and display her full potential, specifically during the tracks “supernatural” and “eternal sunshine.” These whispery choruses occurred several other times on the album, giving the songs a very repetitive feeling.
Grande’s lyricism might just be what has limited her execution on this project. For example, “the boy is mine” didn’t necessarily have enough content to be anything revolutionary in terms of arrangement. While this is a common criticism of pop albums, I can think of many other artists who have released albums that exhibit stereotypical pop traits and still manage to be more individually significant.
Just to clarify, this album wasn’t one of the worst records I’ve ever heard by any means. Many pop lovers are sure to enjoy the upbeat bops and the direction she has gone with her singing on the album. However, especially if the controversy of the album matters to you, Grande’s discography already features albums like “thank u, next” and “Positions” that are similar, yet more musically elevated than “eternal sunshine.” As for me, if I’m ever in the mood to listen to some Ariana Grande in the future, I think I’ll stick to her earlier albums for now.
Rating: 6.5/10
Favorite tracks: “intro (end of the world),” “bye,” “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)”