Ariana Grande is returning to songwriting after a bubbly and pink run on the screen. A deluxe version of her Eternal Sunshine album will drop on March 28. The album will have six additional tracks and is titled Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead.
Brighter Days was first introduced in a music video for a track from the original album, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” The music video was inspired by the 2004 movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey. In the music video, Grande played the movie’s main character, “Peaches.” In the video scenes, Peaches goes to the Brighter Days Inc. clinic to get memories of her and her ex wiped away from her brain permanently. Actor Evan Peters played Grande’s boyfriend in the over four-minute music video.
Fun Fact: Carrey was supposedly Grande’s childhood crush, which she said in an interview on Live with Kelly and Michael and on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Grande also surprises Arianators with a short film, Brighter Days Ahead, to accompany the deluxe album. Details regarding the short film are currently being kept under wraps, but fans have been excited ever since she posted a teaser trailer on Instagram. Grande also discussed the short film in a past interview with Variety Magazine.
“It’s a very special project,” she told Variety. “I’m out there so much right now. I want to let my children miss me for two seconds. I’m excited to surprise them with it at some point, but I’m still mulling over the timing in my head. It’s not the end of ‘Peaches’ just yet, but she’s going in the closet for a minute.”
After the 2024 Eternal Sunshine album was released, it became Grande’s sixth No. 1 album on Billboard 200. We can all agree that Grande has been an unstoppable hit-maker since her 2018 Sweetener album, which is my favorite. According to the Hollywood Reporter, 2018 was also when Grande became the most streamed artist worldwide on Spotify. To my ears, Eternal Sunshine is absolutely one of Grande’s best pieces of work. In my defense, it was 2024’s most-streamed album in a single day on Spotify.
Part of me preferred the soft vocals she brought throughout the album, which are really unlike her if you listen to any of her previous ones. I feel that in this album, Grande is using more of her vocal fry, and I love it. I have set high hopes for these new tracks, and I hope they make the album even better, which I don’t even think would be possible.
Christian Breslauer is directing the short film and was also the director of three music videos from the Eternal Sunshine album. Such as: “yes, and?,” “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” and “the boy is mine.” Breslauer has become a staple in this era for Grande. The director is quickly becoming one of the go-to filmmakers for pop star visuals, according to OfficialCharts. Breslauer has also collaborated with stars like Lil Nas X, SZA, and Jisso.
Even though I was starstruck by her performance as Glinda in the movie theatres, I am so excited to see Grande continue doing what she does best — bless our ears.