A little over a year after Ariana Grande released her seventh studio album, eternal sunshine, she released a deluxe version of the album titled sternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead on March 28, 2025. This includes six brand new tracks, each adding a new layer to the album’s emotional story. Seeing as eternal sunshine was one of my top albums of 2024 and probably makes the list for one of my favorite albums ever, this was a highly anticipated release for me, and it did not disappoint.
Intro (End of the World) – extended
For the first of the deluxe tracks, Ariana brings us back to the intro track of the original album, now with a new verse and outro. Originally, this song depicted Ariana questioning the status of her relationship and if the couple would still want each other “if it all ended tomorrow.” In the new extended cut, Ariana revisits these feelings after the relationship has long ended, reflecting on the miscommunication and tension towards the end of the relationship and how she wishes he could see things from her perspective. At the end, she says, “I broke your heart because you broke mine,” and comments on how she was made out to be the villain for grieving the relationship before it even ended, despite there being faults on both sides. She also discusses how she wishes she could “un-need” him, which plays into the album’s overarching theme of memory loss and erasure following a breakup, stemming from the album’s namesake, the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
twilight zone
As one of my personal favorite new tracks, “twilight zone” tells a story of reflection and closure over a laid-back, synth beat. Based on the lyrics, many have speculated that this song is directed towards Ariana’s ex-husband Dalton Gomez, as most of the album is rumored to be. This one seems particularly pointed, almost as if Ariana is having a direct conversation with him. This is apparent in the lyric “Why do I still protect you, pretend these songs aren’t about you?” where Ariana contemplates why she still wants to protect the public’s image of him and their relationship even after the relationship has ended. This song reminds me of “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” both sonically and lyrically and could even be interpreted as a continuation of that track. In “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” Ariana is just starting to cope with the idea of being better off alone, where “twilight zone” comes from a more healed perspective where Ariana accepts that she wouldn’t change anything that happened because it got her to where she is now. Overall, this is a beautiful song that wraps up the narrative of her relationship and seemingly shuts the door to that chapter of her life.
warm
While it doesn’t stick out to me as one of the album’s best tracks, “warm” is still a very endearing, hopeful song about finding love again after a breakup. My favorite part of this song is the message that she learned to be fine on her own and fully healed before falling in love again. I like this because it doesn’t undercut the work or healing she put into her well-being or give all the credit for her happiness to her new relationship. The recurring lyric, “I’m cool, on my own, but it’s warmer, in your arms,” really says it all. Relationships are great, but they should add to your enjoyment of life, not be the sole cause of it. Ariana had an incredible year career-wise, between eternal sunshine, her beauty company r.e.m., and most importantly, her performance in her dream role as Glinda in Wicked, earning her first Oscar nomination. Through this, she proved she really can do it all, and she can do it on her own. This song testifies to that and gives us one of the first nods to the deluxe’s title, implying that brighter days truly are ahead for her.
Dandelion
“Dandelion” is definitely the most upbeat and lighthearted track off of this deluxe, with its playful lyrics and hard-hitting beat. The intro of this song is by far my favorite of the album, starting with slow jazz horns before the beat drops into a fun, danceable track. The intro scratches my brain in just the right way and makes me excited to listen to the song every time it comes on. Fans were delighted to hear this innuendo-filled track as it strays from the heavy, emotional topics of the rest of the album and sounds more like something off of an older, more traditional pop Ari album, like thank u, next or Positions. While I am a big fan of the new direction Ariana took with eternal sunshine, I, along with many other fans, was happy to hear the old Ari is still in there somewhere.
past life
In the fifth new track, “past life,” Ariana echoes the sentiments of closure from the past tracks and takes it a step further. To me, this song highlights the complicated journey of self-worth after the end of a relationship and the exhilarating feeling of finally being ready to move on and find something better. In the chorus, Ariana emphasizes this with the lyrics, “always wondered what would happen if I let you lose me,” and “I’m fine to leave you in a past life.” She also talks about setting higher expectations for her future partners and relationships. This is a beautiful message to hear from her, especially at the end of the album after we’ve heard her struggles and turmoil in the rest of the tracks. The vocals and production are as strong as ever, and this track is definitely a stand out for me.
Hampstead
From the fan reception I’ve seen across social media, the final deluxe track “Hampstead” is regarded as one of the best, and for good reason. “Hampstead” is a heartbreaking, vulnerable ballad named after the area in London where Ariana lived during the filming of Wicked. The instrumentals and backtracks are very minimal and stripped back, leaving Ariana with just her voice and her songwriting to deliver an incredible performance. Many have interpreted the lyrics as Ariana addressing the public and media, criticizing the scrutiny they put her through during her times of hardship. In my opinion, the most poignant lyric in the song is “I would rather feel everything than nothing every time.” After a whole conceptual album about wishing you could erase all your memories with someone after a painful breakup, Ariana uses the very last track to declare that it is better to feel every part of the pain and learn what you need to from it, than to ignore the memories and pretend they never happened.
My favorite thing about this deluxe is that it does exactly what a deluxe should do, which is add to the emotional depth and strengthen the body of work as a whole. Too often, we see deluxe albums that are just haphazardly thrown together tracks that either didn’t fit the original album thematically or weren’t good enough the first time around. With each of these new tracks, I felt as though I was getting more and more insight into the emotional journey that this album takes you on. I also appreciate that the deluxe tracks are distinct from the original tracks as the perspective shifts from someone fresh out of a marriage to someone who has had time to cope and heal. Overall, this deluxe just solidified eternal sunshine as one of Ariana’s best pieces of work in my eyes. From the concept, to the lyrics, to the production, she is performing at the highest level.