Today, Ariana Grande unveiled Eternal Sunshine, her highly anticipated seventh studio album, and, as usual, the pop singer delivered. Impressively concise (it flies by in about 32 minutes), the album is filled with introspective lyrics and chill-pop beats perfect for sad-dancing, whether at the club or in your room. “It’s incredibly human,” Grande recently said of the album on the Zach Sang Show. “It was definitely the most emotional writing process. But there are also bops that are more fun.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Ari album if the tracks didn’t focus on love, loss, and moving on. With input from heavyweight producers like Max Martin (though Grande also did a lot of the producing herself), the singer playfully bounces through break-ups and failed romances while riffing on house music, R&B, and even jazz. Her relatability and candor—whether on the topic of struggling to stay friends with her exes, or wishing that she hated them when she doesn’t—is what makes listening to Grande’s music often feel like catching up with an old friend, or like a form of therapy. Happily, none of that has changed.
Without further ado, here is a track-by-track breakdown of Eternal Sunshine.
1. Okay, we’re starting on a chill note. The intro track—“intro (end of the world)”—is giving mellow. There are guitar riffs, some strings, and beautiful harmonies. It kind of sounds the way a warm hug on a cold winter’s day feels. Grande sings, “If it all ended tomorrow, would I be the one on your mind? Would you be the one on mine?”
2. It’s clearly a song about wondering if the other person cares about you as much as you care for them. Life’s big mystery, huh? But one this is for certain: The vocals are vocal-ing. Love.
3. Next up is “bye.” There’s a bit of ’70s disco flair to this one, but with some punchy synths. There’s a bounciness to Ariana’s tracks that I can’t quite compare to anyone else’s; they make you want to skip through an open grassy field with a lover, or throw it back through sobs on the dance floor. There’s no in between!
4. She’s singing about a boy she just broke up with in the driveway. “Bye, bye, I’m taking what’s mine,” she sings. “Bye, bye, it’s over again.” We’ve all had that one fling that we can’t quit—even if we know that they’re not good for us—but this is an anthem for the duds we finally let go. Sometimes, as she sings, you just have to say boy, bye.
5. We’re taking in “don’t wanna break up again” next. We’re back to a more chill-pop sound. You know those long solo drives you take to clear your head? This is the ideal song for that.
6. Ariana’s continuing with her breakup anthems. These lyrics are about a guy she can’t stop breaking up with. “I don’t wanna fuck with your head. It’s breaking my heart, to keep breaking yours again,” she sings.
7. Time for a quick interlude. It’s called “Saturn Returns.” I smell an astrology moment incoming.
8. “The Saturn cycle takes around about 29 years,” says a mysterious (but soothing) British voice. “That’s when we’ve got to wake up and smell the coffee. It’s time to get real about life and sort out who you really are.” Ariana turned 30 last year, so she must have been going through her Saturn return while making this record. I just realized I totally missed my Saturn return. Is it too late for me to smell the coffee?
9. The title track, “eternal sunshine,” is here. This one had better be good. It’s no secret that this record is an ode to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a film about love being worth it, despite the pain it may cause.
10. She’s harmonizing with herself beautifully here, especially during the chorus. Grande sings, “I showed you all my demons, all my lies, but you played me like Atari…. I’ve found a good boy and he’s on my side, you’re just my eternal sunshine.”
11. That might be one of my favorite tracks so far. This album is definitely Ariana’s most mature work yet. A lot of her earlier music about love was feisty and naïve (in a good way). These lyrics feel more grown-up: they’re less “Thank you, next,” more “Thank you for the lessons I’ve learned from this—I will never make those mistakes again.”
12. Next up is “supernatural.” I’m digging the subdued, almost drowned-out beat. This track sounds like when you go into a trance on the dance floor, and everyone else around you goes dark and out of focus.
13. Ariana’s been singing a lot about love so far—but this song seems to be more about lust. “Need your hands all up on my body, like the moon needs the stars,” she sings. “I want you to name it, want you to make it yours.”
14. Is it getting hot in here, or is just me? Damn!
15. “This is a true story about all the lies you fantasize about you and I,” Grands sings in the next song, titled “true story.” She’s reading someone to filth here, and I am living for it. “I’ll play the villain if you need me to … I’ll play whatever part you need me to.”
16. Max Martin and the rest of the team strike again with this slow, sexy beat. So good.
17. Time for “the boy is mine”! When the track list for this album was first revealed last month, Ariana fans were convinced this was going to be some sort of cover of the iconic Brandy and Monica track of the same name. I am here to report, however, that it is entirely its own thing!
18. The song is about—you guessed it—being immediately infatuated with someone. “Something about him is made for somebody like me,” she sings. “That boy is mine; let’s get intertwined.” Do we think this song is about her current boyfriend, Ethan Slater?
19. Okay, this is my favorite song so far. It’s just so, so catchy. And it has an early 2000s pop feel—that was my era.
20. Ah, yes, we’ve arrived to the lead single of the album: “yes, and?” I was gagged when this track first came out. It’s fun, it’s dance-y, and it’s already been blaring in all the gay clubs nonstop.
21. The music video for this song also hits, by the way. I love Ariana’s ballerina-core style in it, and the choreography is pretty sickening, too. Shantay, Ari*—you stay!*
22. We’re nearing the album’s final four songs. I don’t want it to end! It’s been no-skips so far. Next is “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” The meaning of it is pretty self-explanatory: “We can’t be friends, I don’t like to just pretend,” she sings.
23. This low-key sounds like a Robyn song. And we love Robyn in this household. It’s a bit melancholic—but, again, dance floor-ready.
24. We’re now at what I consider to be the first real ballad, titled “i wish i hated you.” Grande sings, “I wish I hated you, I wish that weren’t true, wish that I was worse to you.” Sometimes, it is hard to hate someone, even if they totally deserve it. Call that being human, I guess.
25. In “imperfect for you,” Grande also sings about learning to accept the imperfections of a relationship—something that takes real emotional maturity (cannot relate). She sings, “How could we have known that this was a happy disaster? I’m glad we crash and burned. I know we’ll be there for each other.”
26. Last song!!! It’s called “ordinary things” and features her grandmother Marjorie. I’m excited to hear what this feature entails—her only feature on the album. This is kind of a power move, considering Ariana probably could have gotten anyone to jump on a track with her.
27. The song is about finding someone so special that doing even the most mundane things together becomes magical. She sings, “We could do anything we’d like … but I don’t want anything but more time. There’s never going to be an ordinary thing as long as I’m with you.” The hypnotizing bass in this song needs to be turned up HIGH. I want the car to be shaking when you’re playing this one.
28. Nonna pops in at the 02:05 mark. It’s a recording of her voice sharing some words of wisdom. “When he’d come home, and I’d see him get off that train, it was like God almighty arrived,” she says, presumably about her husband, Ariana’s grandfather. “It was like seeing daylight. I could have packed up and left a million times—it’s not that we never fought. You can overcome that. That’s why I told her: Never go to bed without kissing goodnight. It’s the worst thing to do. And if you can’t, and you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place. Get out.”
29. Amen, Nonna. Amen.
