Issue 4: New Album Review - Eternal Sunshine by Ariana Grande
A review of Ariana Grande's latest project - Eternal Sunshine.
Background Information:
Ariana Grande is a world-renowned American singer with eternal sunshine being her first album in 4 years. Grande rose to fame by acting in popular Nickelodeon sitcoms such as Victorious and Sam & Cat, with a move towards a career in singing with her 2013 album, My Way (Biography, 2021). In her career spanning over a decade now, she has released 7 studio albums and a number of singles and EPs as well.
Grande has been one of the biggest names in pop for the past decade and therefore, it will come to no surprise she has experienced much success in her singing career. In the USA, she has earned 8 Billboard Hot 100 number 1 singles, along with 21 singles being in the top 10 and 74 singles being charted. With albums, she has managed to reciprocate this success by earning 5 Number 1s for Top Album Sales (Billboard, 2024).
From a business standpoint, there could be many reasons to explain Ariana Grande’s success. Grande has a number of business ventures in a range of markets including clothing, bottled water, makeup and perfume which are sold in a variety of places including her own website and high-street retailers. Her perfume especially has been very successful, grossing $150 million in 2017 and many new fragrances have been released since then. It could be said a lot of this success has come from the iconic image she has portrayed such as her high ponytail (David Eccles School of Business, 2017). A lot of this success could also come from her simply knowing her audience well, with her products mainly appealing to her main audience - female teenagers. There is no doubt that Grande’s success shows the importance of singers branding themselves through differentiation and finding ways to earn extra revenue streams by simply knowing their audience well.
eternal sunshine has already experienced a lot of success. Much of this is likely to stem from the popularity of the lead single yes and? which was released in January and has earned over 300 million streams on Spotify since then. yes and? topped the billboard charts on its debut week and has been in the charts for 8 weeks since then. we can’t be friends (wait for your love) also topped the charts upon the release of the album. In addition, all 12 songs from the album (minus the interlude) charted on the billboard. Therefore, it came to no surprise that eternal sunshine topped the Total Album Sales chart on its debut week (Billboard, 2024). Looking at Spotify steams, it comes to no surprise why the album has done so well with the total streams of the album already reaching nearly 1 billion streams (just over 950 million to be accurate – as of 29/3/24). These insane numbers have led to Grande being the 3rd most streamed artist on Spotify currently with over 89 million monthly listeners – a number only bettered by The Weeknd and Taylor Swift.
Tracklist Ratings:
intro (end of the world) - a short yet solid introductory track. It helps set the tone of the album pretty well. Grande showcases her strong vocals with the short melody which is on the track. However, like many introductory tracks - it does lack replayability whilst also lacking a lot of substance you want from a track. 57
bye - a very Grande-style song in regards to the sound of it and the topic of discussion - breakup. The production in this track is very strong and is one of the biggest strengths of the track for me. The chorus is another strong point as I enjoy the catchiness of it. Therefore, both of these aspects make me enjoy this track and as such, it is likely to be in my rotation. However, the only potential issue I have is that it just doesn’t quite make the very good category since it is quite simple sounding compared to other tracks. 66
don’t wanna break up again - another solid track on the album. It shares many similarities to bye since both tracks have strong and catchy hooks. Grande sings at a higher pitch on this track, something I like since it sounds almost majestic in nature. I’m also a big fan of the story-telling on the track since Grande describes how she dealt with break-up and doesn’t want to go through it again. The track is targeted to the person who she is having a situationship with and although it may not be 100% true there still seems to be a very personal nature to it, especially with her recent divorce with ex-husband Dalton Gomez. The production is solid but like bye, I think it doesn’t quite get into the very good category as it is quite a simple song and equally isn’t one of the best on the album. 67
Saturn Returns Interlude - a motivational speech from astrologer Diana Garland. I feel that it does work well and adds value to the album, especially with the astronomically-themed album title ‘eternal sunshine’.
eternal sunshine - the title track. It shares some traits with don’t wanna break up again, with Grande using a lower pitch during verses and a higher pitch during the chorus, alongside a higher energy of the beat – something I do like. The track explores similar themes to those explored previously, with Grande stating she would rather wipe her mind than live through the pain caused by the divorce from her ex-husband. I really enjoy the track which is why I believe it just makes the very good category. It feels like a more rounded track to those previously and is also a more interesting track to listen to. 70
supernatural - one of my favourite tracks on the album. I enjoy that it is more of a conventional love song which is starkly different from the other tracks which focus more on the ending of relationships and coming to terms with break-ups. The production is strong on the track as well, with there being a noticeable RnB influence, which is something I like. Really good chorus especially with Grande’s high-pitched vocals which sound amazing. 73
true story - a unique-themed track with Grande speaking out against media outlets and people who spread rumours about her life, making her out to be a villain. She delivers this strong message alongside a strong chorus and strong production. I especially like the electro-pop influences of the beat which run through the whole track. However, I think that the track does lack in some areas such as replayability and the overall vibe – which is quite a weak one relative to many other tracks on the album. 63
the boy is mine - sharing the same name with the hit 90s song ‘The Boy is Mine’ by Brandy and Monica, there are noticeable influences especially in regards to the RnB sound of the song. The chorus is decent although not the strongest on the album, with it sounding a bit tedious after a while for me. I also feel that the tracks lack substance as it feels that Grande doesn’t talk about much. 62
yes, and? - the leading single to the album. I wasn’t particularly a massive fan of it when it first came out but upon listening to it numerous times, it has certainly grown on me. A particular aspect I really enjoy is the dance-sounding beat which would make the track a perfect one to be played in the club. Coupled with a strong chorus and verses, yes and? is probably the strongest track on the album for me. The only critique of the song is that it doesn’t talk about much which is why it isn’t a perfect song for me, but doesn’t knock that it is one of the best-sounding tracks. 76
we can’t be friends (wait for your love) - another strong track for me. The hook is the standout part of the track, as not only is it catchy but simply sounds very good. Although fairly standard for a beat, the beat nevertheless is still very strong with it managing to combine an upbeat yet almost melancholy sound, which is what the whole track seems to embody. 71
i wish i hated you - another track where Grande discusses life after the breakup with her ex-husband which is said right from the start of the track. Unlike many of the tracks on the album, I prefer the verses much more than the hook which I feel is quite weak in comparison. Much of this is likely to stem from my appreciation of the Grande’s storytelling which runs through all her verses. Not a bad track but certainly not one of the best in my view. 60
imperfect for you - counters the themes from the previous track, with this one being similar to supernatural in being a more love-orientated track. In this track, Grande explores how imperfection is simply normal in relationships and there is nothing wrong with that - something I do appreciate. Both the verses and the hook are good, but not the strongest on the album which is a similar feature to that of the beat. 65
ordinary things (feat. Nonna) - a strong closing track to the album in my view. Like the previous track, Grande explores more of a love theme which I quite like as an overall story of the album. At the start of the album, she is overcoming heartbreak however, by the end of the album she seems a lot happier and seems to have found new love. ordinary things is a sweet love song with a good hook. I especially like the personal aspect of the track with Grande having her grandmother featured on the end of it and I feel it very much enhances the song in my view. 66
Personal reflections:
I have always appreciated Ariana Grande as an artist and have quite a few of her songs in my regular rotation, so I certainly enjoyed listening to eternal sunshine. The only problem I have with it though, is that a lot of tracks sound very same-y in my view. It doesn’t feel like Grande has progressed much as an artist since she seems to explore the same themes again and again. The soundscape of her tracks also seems very similar, with all of the songs pretty much having an electro-pop beat with RnB influences alongside a catchy and well-performed chorus and some decent verses. Although this isn’t a criticism as such because this is the formula explored by a lot of pop artists nowadays, I feel like in Grande’s case it is wearing out slightly. However, I think that the break-up focus of eternal sunshine is a strong one and I like how it runs through pretty much the whole album. I have never listened to a full Ariana Grande project before so it will be interesting to see how eternal sunshine with its themes and tracks contrast with her previous projects.
I do appreciate the structure of the album and I do think that it’s one of the album’s major strengths. A lot of the first half of the album focuses on break-ups which is especially relevant in Grande’s case after the break-up with her ex-husband Dalton Gomez roughly a year ago. Especially when looking at bye and don’t wanna break up again, you can hear how Grande is overcoming this big breakup and how she is struggling to have another relationship coming off the back of it. The interlude with its motivational nature seems to be speaking to Grande individually and essentially acting as a way to convince her to move on from the break-up. The tracks eternal sunshine and supernatural very much play into this narrative, with eternal sunshine essentially saying that she is recovering from the break-up and supernatural acting as a conventional love song – implying that she is ready to move on. I feel like true story moves away from this story slightly, but still has some importance – especially with the message to the media to stop portraying her as a villain. It could be said that due to the nature and topic of this track, it acts as a way for Grande to confront the repercussions of her break-up with Gomez and therefore does play into the narrative but not as directly. I feel like the next songs, the boy is mine and yes and? don’t relate as strongly to the narrative of the album as the previous tracks which slightly ruin the overall cohesiveness of the album for me, but yes and? especially is simply a fun and energetic song which I do enjoy being on the album. The 4 songs after yes and? resume the narrative and offer a more positive outlook which can be especially heard from Grande’s lyrics. imperfect for you and ordinary things especially act as more love-orientated songs so for me, this makes me think that Grande has managed to overcome this big break-up and is now ready to find new love.
The tracklist is solid as well, with pretty much all the tracks on the album being perfectly good stand-alone tracks. Additionally, I don’t think there are any weak songs although naturally there are some which are far weaker than others. However, the main critique I have is that although most of the tracks I would regard as good, there are only a few I would regard as very good and none of them are what I would define as perfect. Much of the reasoning behind this is that they simply do not offer enough as a song for me to put them in the category. Although Ariana Grande has an incredible voice and this is something I cannot fault, she sounds very similar on many of the tracks, especially with the way she has powerful choruses alongside a higher pitch and a lower pitch on verses. This is also the case with the beat with many of the tracks being quite similar in this respect, with the dance-esque beat on yes and? being the only large difference. An aspect of the album I kind of enjoy is that there are no features. This is quite rare nowadays and especially rare for someone of Grande’s calibre. But, I do think that it does work because of the personal nature of the album. I feel like a big-name feature would have done well to provide a more diverse sound but may not have helped on the narrative front. This is especially why I like that the only feature on the album is her grandmother on ordinary things as having a family member just feels more personal – supporting this personal aspect of the album.
Overall, eternal sunshine is a good album and one that I will revisit a few times. I would say when listening to it, it is better as background music than to listening closely to it like I would with a rap album. If you are looking for a fairly relaxing pop album, much of this coming from Grande’s singing style – eternal sunshine is a good one to go for. I think it will be a good idea for me to listen to another one of Grande’s albums to simply evaluate whether eternal sunshine is one of her best albums or not, so this is probably what I will do in the future.
Album Ratings
Songs: 66 – this is a fair rating as most of the ratings I gave were around this number. I feel like the songs off the album were good but simply not outstanding so this is certainly a fair score.
Overall Vibe: 82 – certainly the biggest strength on the album. When listening to the album numerous times, the aspect that made me drawn to the album was simply the overall sound of it. All of the songs have a good vibe to them which is likely why the overall sound of the album was so positive in my view. I also think making vibe-y songs is one of Grande’s biggest strengths as an artist and a lot of this comes from her unique and highly ranged vocals. I also think that the beats also add to it, with yes and? especially coming to mind where I get an influx of energy whenever I hear the intro of the track.
Creativity: 43 – as I have touched on before, there is nothing new with this album. All the songs sound like songs that Grande has released before and it doesn’t feel like she has done any experimentation with this album. The only slight creativity which she has done is with the narrative of the album, which I feel is the only saving grace as to why I haven’t put this album in a lower rating category. The beats especially don’t seem new or fresh, but simply like ones that have done commercially well in the music for the past few years.
Cohesiveness: 74 – I feel like there is a general cohesiveness with the album, especially from the story-telling which is what I explored earlier. Pretty much all the tracks bar 2 play into this narrative which is why I gave this category a high score but not one high enough to put it into a perfect category. I feel like without those tracks, the album would have been more cohesive but I also worry that it would have lost a lot of the strengths coming from the vibes of the 2 tracks. I feel that in some respects they do well as a break from the story for a bit. However, as they don’t relate as well – I do think that they do let the album down with the cohesiveness score.
Replayability: 69 – eternal sunshine is not an album that I would look to revisit very often, but I would like to still revisit it. I think that because of the vibe of the album, it would be perfect as a background music album for when I am studying or writing up notes. However, in terms of listening to the album closely, I doubt I would because the songs just aren’t engaging enough in that respect.
Overall Score: 67 - GOOD
Want to share your thoughts on eternal sunshine? Got an album you want me to review? Don’t hesitate to contact me at thetunesreview@gmail.com
Explanation of ratings
For those who haven’t read a Tune Reviews newsletter before, in a typical song or album review I will provide a numerical score between 0 and 100 with each interval meaning something different. This is observed below:
85-100 - Perfect Song/Album
70-84 - Very Good Song/Album
55-69 - Good Song/Album
40 - 54 - Mid Song/Album (something that I don’t like nor dislike)
25-39 - Bad Song/Album
25 and less - Very Poor Song/Album
With albums, I will provide an additional rating scheme where I will analyse various parts making up the album. These factors include; songs (where I will simply find the average of the song ratings I have scored), overall sound (what I think of the overall sound and vibe of the album), creativity (how creative and different the album is from other projects from the artist and other projects at the time the album was released), cohesiveness (how well the project flows and the songs go together) and replayability (how likely I will revisit this album in the future). All of the above factors will also be considered when coming up with a score for the songs as well.
References:
Biography, 2021. Ariana Grande [Online]. Available at: https://www.biography.com/musicians/ariana-grande
Billboard, 2024. Ariana Grande [Online]. Available at: https://www.billboard.com/artist/ariana-grande/
Bonner, M., 2023. Ariana Grande is Wildy Rich, JFYI [Online]. Available at: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a21576167/ariana-grande-net-worth/
David Eccles School of Business: The University of Utah, 2017. Five business lessons we can learn from Ariana Grande [Online]. Available at: https://eccles.utah.edu/news/5-business-lessons-from-ariana-grande/