Eternal Sunshine

A pop, R&B, and electropop record with dance and house influences, characterized by mid-tempo synthesizers, subtle guitar, and string elements.

Eternal Sunshine is the seventh studio album by American singer and songwriter Ariana Grande, released on March 8, 2024, by Republic Records. Written and produced by Grande, Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh, and Oscar Görres amongst others, it is a pop, R&B, and electropop record with dance and house influences, characterized by mid-tempo synthesizers, subtle guitar, and string elements. Grande derived the album's title from the American film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). She conceived the album as a record of both vulnerability and entertainment, inspired by her personal life experiences. Upon release, the album received acclaim from critics for its restrained vocals and music and the emotional vulnerability of the subject matter, while some critiqued the songwriting as unrefined. In the United States, the album opened at number one on the Billboard 200, marking her sixth number-one on the chart, while charting all of its tracks on the Billboard Hot 100. Three singles were released; the first two, "Yes, And?" and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", debuted atop the Hot 100, making Grande the woman with the most number-one debuts and the first woman with two albums to produce multiple number-one debuts in the US. The album topped charts across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas. On Spotify, the album was the fifth most-streamed album of 2024 globally. Grande promoted and discussed the album on programs hosted by Zach Sang, Zane Lowe, Penn Badgley, and Sean Evans, and was the musical guest of Saturday Night Live on March 9, 2024. She performed music from the album at the 2024 Met Gala and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and embarked on a namesake concert tour in June 2026. The standard edition does not contain guest musical acts, but features spoken words from Grande's maternal grandmother Marjorie Grande on "Ordinary Things" and astrologer Diana Garland on "Saturn Returns Interlude". Two extended editions, including remixes and live versions of several tracks, were released on March 10 and October 1, 2024, featuring Australian singer Troye Sivan and American singers Mariah Carey, Brandy, and Monica. A deluxe edition, Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, was released on March 28, 2025.

Quick Facts

Artist

Ariana Grande

Released

8 March 2024

Recorded

September–December 2023

Studio

Jungle City (New York City)
MXM (Stockholm)
Studio 112 (Jonstorp)
Decoy (Suffolk)
House Mouse (Stockholm)

Genre

Pop
R&B
electropop

Length

35:26

Label

Republic

Lore & Background

Grande described Eternal Sunshine as 'kind of a concept album' comprising 'different heightened pieces of the same story, of the same experience.' She explained that the record spans from 'really vulnerable' songs to playful tracks which see her emulating 'what people kind of expect me to be sometimes and having fun with it.' Wendy Goldstein, co-president of Republic Records, described the record as an 'elevated version' of Grande's previous albums, calling it an embodiment of 'Sweetener meets [...] Thank U, Next.' The album begins with 'Intro (End of the World),' which primarily includes strings and a morose guitar, with Grande posing the question, 'How can I tell if I'm in the right relationship?' The second song, 'Bye,' was described by Grande as the hardest song on the album for her to write, saying 'It was hard for the reason that I desperately didn't want it to sound like a "fuck you." I wanted it to sound like, "I need to leave, so bye."' The interlude 'Saturn Returns' prominently samples a YouTube video of astrologer Diana Garland, as she discusses the importance of the age of 29 in a person's life, urging the listener to 'wake up' and 'sort out who you really are' before the album's fifth and title track. In 'Eternal Sunshine,' Grande hints that her ex-husband, Dalton Gomez, may have cheated during their marriage and displays an uncertainty towards their relationship over an 'R&B-pop' beat.

Reader's Guide

The standard edition of Eternal Sunshine contains 13 tracks. The opening track, 'Intro (End of the World),' sets a morose tone with strings and guitar. 'Bye' is an uptempo dance-pop number with influences of disco and Philadelphia soul. 'Don't Wanna Break Up Again' is a gloomy, '90s influenced pop and R&B song. The interlude 'Saturn Returns' samples astrologer Diana Garland, and fades directly into the title track 'Eternal Sunshine,' where Grande addresses her relationship with ex-husband Dalton Gomez. 'Supernatural' has a low-tempo beat with lyrics about being in love and inseparable. 'True Story' and 'The Boy Is Mine' are intentionally placed together; the former is a mid-tempo R&B track with elements of G-funk, while the latter is a 'bass-heavy' R&B song inspired by the positive reactions towards a leaked track, 'Fantasize,' and is a 'reimagining' of the 1998 song of the same name by Brandy and Monica. 'Yes, And?' is an uptempo and 'effervescent' pop-house song with elements of ballroom. 'We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)' is a synth-wave influenced synth-pop song with a double meaning. The album also features spoken words from Grande's maternal grandmother Marjorie Grande on 'Ordinary Things.' Two extended editions were released on March 10 and October 1, 2024, featuring remixes and live versions, with additional tracks from Troye Sivan, Mariah Carey, Brandy, and Monica.