Ariana Grande is hours away from the release of her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine, and she’s teased that the 13 tracks reveal an all-important answer to a burning question.
Grande, 30, sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 and the pair dissected the album, her inspirations behind it and discussed how her time filming Wicked was “healing” for her relationship with music.
Among the topics that the pair discussed was the overarching story that the record tells, as it “starts with a question and it ends with an answer,” as Lowe phrased it.
“The question is, ‘How do I know if I’m in the right relationship, if I found the right person?’ ” Lowe said, before pointing out that the final track, “ordinary things” — which Grande has previously teased features her grandmother, Nonna — provided the answer to that pressing question.
Grande said she “didn’t realize” how neatly the track tied up her initial questioning until she found a “voice note” of her Nonna talking to a friend.
“I knew ‘ordinary things’ was the end of the album. I was like, ‘This is the last song, but I wonder how I can put that button on it and have it land emotionally the way that I feel it can, and how can I answer the question?’”
After listening to her Nonna’s 30-minute conversation, a snippet “right smack in the middle” caught her attention. “And I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s the answer.’ ”
As Lowe described it, while the opening track, “intro (end of the world)” sees Grande questioning if she’s with the “right person,” the album “ends with the most timeless piece of advice that anyone with any wisdom will give you, which is ‘Don’t forget about the little things.'”
During her candid conversation with Lowe, the “yes, and?” singer also shared the three songs that are her favorites on Eternal Sunshine — at least as of now: “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” “imperfect for you” and the title track, “eternal sunshine.”
Overall, Grande said of making the record, which is her first since Positions in 2020, “I’ve loved every minute of making this album – the videos, rehearsing, putting the roll-out together, doing the photo shoots, every single part of it.”
Though she had a “very interesting relationship to music” before filming Wicked, she said the break was “really healing.”
“More than ever before in my life, I’ve been able to be so much more present and enjoy it and savor it this time in a way that I don’t think I was able to before.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Grande also touched on a topic she’s previously given mixed signals about, which is whether or not she’ll tour with the new album.
“I miss doing shows. I really do,” she admitted, before sharing that she’s “excited to redefine my relationship to touring.”
“If there’s a chance to in between the Wickeds or right after the Wickeds, I will of course do my best to do it.”
