Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine [Ruby]

Four years after Positions, Ariana Grande came back in March 2024 with a concept record about the aftermath of a marriage, named for a film about erasing someone from your memory. Eternal Sunshine debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and produced two Hot 100 chart-toppers in "Yes, And?" and "We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)."

Built almost entirely with Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh, the album is her most sonically restrained and her most lyrically direct. "Bye" opens on a disco pulse that never fully lands, which is the point. "The Boy Is Mine" reclaims the Brandy and Monica title with a wink. "I Wish I Hated You" and "Imperfect For You" strip the production back to almost nothing and let the writing carry it. The album closes with "Ordinary Things," ending on a voice memo from her grandmother that lands harder than any of the choruses before it.

At thirty-five minutes it is the shortest album she has made and the one with the least wasted motion. A pop record that treats a very public year as material rather than spectacle.

Pressed on ruby vinyl, single LP. Republic Records.