eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead; album review

eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead by Ariana Grande

>> introduction <<

Ever since Ariana Grande released her seventh studio album "eternal sunshine" on March 8th of 2024, Ariana has gotten a lot of praise from fans and critics for it's theming and storytelling. It's interesting to look back at the release of this album when you consider how Ariana had to essentially 'win back' the general public after being involved in an affair with her 'Wicked' co-star Ethan Slater. Because of this, Ariana was on the verge of a career-ending event, and one misstep could have sent past that edge and tumbling down. For this reason, she had a lot of eyes on her after she began to tease her new project, which led to the eventual release of "yes, and?", which was not taken very well at the time. Many critiqued it for being a hollow way of addressing the drama taking place. It wasn't until the release of the standard album that people finally started coming around. In reality, the album never addresses the issues that the public had head-on, but rather it explains her thought process and her personal situation that led her to do the things she did. As a result, the fire was slowly getting put out, and it seems like Ariana is finally back to her usual scheduled programming. This was made especially clear to us when she finally decided to announce "eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead", which released last week alongside a short film that continues the narrative from the standard album. Despite not being a super long extension of the album, in reality it feels more like a true continuation of the original album as opposed to a hollow extension of it. In this review, I won't be reviewing any songs from the standard edition of the album, only the new tracks. However, I may reference some songs and common themes from the standard edition's tracks.

Ariana Grande for "eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead"

This deluxe has 6 new tracks:

intro (end of the world) - extended
twilight zone
warm
dandelion
past life
Hampstead

Ariana Grande for "eternal sunshine" - Edit by me

>> intro (end of the world) - extended <<

I'm really happy that this exists, as I really liked the intro on the standard album. Clearly I wasn't alone on that, as Ariana decided to make a full version for the song. It's not entirely what I expected from an extended version of the song, but I'm glad we got one in the first place. The original version of the song served as a way to introduce some recurring themes on the rest of the album, and it focuses specifically on Ariana falling in love with someone while she was in a relationship with someone else who had been checked out for a while. Despite that, she still asks; "If it all ended tomorrow, Would I be the one on your mind?". This extended version expands on the aftermath of this relationship as Ariana moves on to someone else. As the new lyrics roll, we start to see that lingering question start to disappear, as Ariana says "I do need you, I did. I wish I could un-need you, so I did.". This new version feels like the thesis statement for the whole album, and I think that makes it a worthy addition.

>> twilight zone <<

Starting with this song, there's a clear tonal shift from the standard album. It feels more light and airy, in comparison to tracks like "supernatural" or "yes, and?". Not only that, but we see a continuation of the narrative started in the standard edition, as we go from actively mourning the relationship that Ariana lost, to the aftermath and her perspective now that she's moved on. This song in particular is interesting, because it plays with the idea of not regretting a failed relationship, nor wishing that you could return to it, but rather being in a completely frozen state between those two feelings. Even though she's moved on and made peace with her feelings, she's still not satisfied with how it ended. Again, that doesn't mean she wishes to go back, but in the disbelief of how things went down in her divorce, she doesn't feel like she got the proper final chapter to their story. It's an interesting perspective that I'm glad was shared with us. This track is a highlight from the deluxe for me.

>> warm <<

This song is similar to "twilight zone" in sound, but their messages are completely different. "warm" touches on the anxieties of being in a relationship with someone who moves just as fast as you do. Ariana knows that she's better off by being with this new person, but there's a lingering fear that they'll move on without her and leave her stranded. It's a constant cycle of reassurance and fear- when you are afraid someone might leave you, and yet they tell you otherwise and hold you tight to convince you. I may be painting the song in a darker light, as it does feel more like a love song than anything else, but I think it replicates the fear of love bombing quite well.

>> dandelion <<

This is an interesting track, and was a little unexpected on my first-listen. It has a trumpet playing the melody throughout the song, which makes this song feel like a pretty significant departure from the rest of the songs on this album sonically. Lyrically, it's probably the least complicated song out of the deluxe tracks. That doesn't mean it's not good, but it makes this song a little uninteresting in comparison to the other songs on this deluxe. As a result, I don't really have a lot to say about this song other than the fact that it's your typical Ariana Grande pop endeavor. Nothing crazy happening here.

>> past life <<

"past life" aims to settle the score as to how Ariana decided that her marriage needed to end. She simply woke up one day and decided it wasn't enough for her anymore. As she says; "Might f*** around and elevate my expectations". This paints a clear picture of how quickly someone can switch up in a relationship, whether there's good reason or not. I also find the production pretty refreshing for her, I think the strings add a layer of texture that couldn't be replicated with a hi-hat. This song poses the question- when life is such a short and finite thing, why waste it by simply settling for someone who doesn't give back? What's wrong with simply wanting more, as long as it's within reason? This rhetoric is something that the lead "yes, and?" failed to communicate, and is why people didn't take kindly to it. It's another interesting perspective on the fallout of her relationship and why it happened in the first place, and how sometimes the answer to your problems can actually be quite simple. This song reminds us that you know what you deserve, and so you should have the right to go chase whatever is going to make you fulfill your desire.

>> Hampstead <<

This song was a little hard for me to crack at first. There's something interesting going on here in the lyrics. I believe it's actually a direct response to those who were quick to attack her after the affair made it in public eye. "I know it seems f***** up, and your right. But quite frankly, you're still wrong about everything." and "So far off, your seat's nowhere near the table ... What makes you think you're even invited?" feels very pointed towards the average person who is putting their nose in places it doesn't belong. It feels like commentary on how people wanted to form an opinion about her and her relationships based on a surface-level and uninformed point of view. She acknowledges that maybe her way to approach this new relationship was wrong, but there are things that the public will never know about the situation that makes it hard to make such harsh judgments about Ariana's character based on this one situation alone. She mentions how she finds it weird for people to try and put her in a box when they are missing so many pieces to the puzzle; she says "You think you've read the book I'm still writing. I can't imagine wanting so badly to be right." I think it's important that she's finally decided to speak her mind about the matter, and while I do personally believe it was wrong for her to cheat on her husband and date a married man, I also firmly believe that all parties involved are at fault in the matter, and yet I don't see nearly as much heat getting thrown their way. Just food for thought, though.

>> final thoughts <<

For a deluxe version, these new songs add a lot more context to the standard edition and manages to expand and invent new ideas despite using old themes that were present on the standard edition. It's pretty impressive, as most deluxe editions end up feeling like a way to get extra album sales by scraping up scrapped songs made during the creative process of the original album. "eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead" manages to make every track feel like it was made after the first album, as there's a level of clarity from these new songs that make them feel genuinely fresh and new. I haven't gotten the chance to watch the short film that released alongside with this deluxe edition, but I wouldn't be shocked if it only recontextualized these new tracks in a completely different light. For now, I can applaud this project for the music alone.

"eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead" by Ariana Grande

Song Ratings:

(5/10 being average)

intro (end of the world) - extended: 9/10
twilight zone: 9.5/10
warm: 8/10
dandelion: 7/10
past life: 8.5/10
Hampstead: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

TLDR; 'eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead' is an interesting re-representation of the same ideas and themes from the standard edition of the album in a new light. Despite that, it still manages to bring things to the table that keep the deluxe tracks interesting while further contextualizing the narrative told on the standard album. Rather than feeling like a deluxe, there's a level of distinction between the standard and deluxe editions that makes this new project feel like something that can stand on it's own while still maintaining key aspects from the original version.

Earworm ~-~-~o

Thanks for reading!

-Joey :)