Ariana Grande announces seventh album ‘Eternal Sunshine’
The record, set for release on March 8, will feature the recently released single 'Yes, And?'
By Larisha Paul
Ariana Grande‘s hint-dropping tactics in the lead-up to her latest single, ‘Yes, And?’ offered fans a few puzzle pieces about her upcoming album era. In the song’s music video, a red card reading AG7 — shorthand for her seventh studio album — featured coordinates that led to Montauk, New York. And on Instagram, the singer shared a selection from Alexander Pope’s poetic “Eloisa to Abelard” from 1717. The clues all came together as Grande finally announced the record title: Eternal Sunshine, out March 8.
As it turns out, Montauk was the prime filming location for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the 2004 film directed by Michel Gondry. Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey — whose birthday is today — star in the film. The “Eloisa to Abelard” passage that Grande shared read: “How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot! the world forgetting by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pay’r accepted. and each wish resign’d.”
Eternal Sunshine marks Grande’s first album release since Positions arrived in 2020. Over the last few months, the singer has quietly teased the record with videos and photos of her in the studio with Max Martin. She first worked with the pop juggernaut on her sophomore album My Everything, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this year.
At the close of 2023, Grande reflected on her year in a post that described it as “one of the most transformative, most challenging, and yet happiest and most special years of my life.” She added, “There were so many beautiful and yet polarized feelings. I’ve never felt more at the mercy of and in acceptance of what life was screaming to teach me. I feel more human than ever. I feel more deeply than ever. I feel softer and stronger, all at once.”
The album’s first single, “Yes, And?,” took aim at critics and skeptics who observed her from a distance over the course of time and came to their own conclusions about her artistry and personhood. The record’s lyrics request that people “don’t comment on my body, do not reply” and prompt them to investigate: “Why do you care so much whose d— I ride?”