Ariana Grande’s new album Eternal Sunshine (Deluxe) is released today, with six additional songs.
Eternal Sunshine Deluxe
Ariana Grande has always been my favorite pop singer. Her new album as usual, is extremely complicatedly layered and emotionally authentic. I bet for at least 8.0 in pitchfork.
AG is setting the upperbound of pop music. Because, pop music, just like every other genres of art, are constrained by their definition, structure, and functionality. Yes, artists are trying to push boundaries all the time. But pop is pop—you’ll always see structured blocks, repeating melodies and steady, unchanging beats in all these 3-mins long pop songs. So sorry, popular music’s landscape is too saturated and possibly has peaked over the past 20 years.
The emotions were there, the artistry was clear—but it just didn’t click for me anymore. You outgrow certain styles or crave something with more complexity—my ears want something more intricate, more challenging. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with classical music—there’s a richness in classical music that I hadn’t noticed before—something raw, information-dense, and timeless.
This isn’t to say Ariana isn’t brilliant—she absolutely is. In many ways, she’s bridging pop with music theatre and classical influence. But music tastes evolve, and mine is currently dancing somewhere between a Chopin nocturne and a Tchaikovsky pas de deux.
Who knows what I’ll be listening to next year?