Coming off a three-year gap in album releases, the multi-platinum pop star is back with a new album that will be sure to be a hit. With great singles like Yes, and?, and we can't be friends, there's an abundance of catchy pop songs to fill the void of releases.
1. Intro (Into the World)
2. bye
3. don't wanna break up again
4. Saturn Returns Interlude
5. eternal sunshine
6. supernatural
7. true story
8. the boy is mine
9. yes, and?
10. we can't be friends (wait for your love)
11. i wish i hated you
12. Imperfect for you
13. ordinary things(ft. Noona)
14. supernatural(ft. Troye Sivan)
15. imperfect for you - acoustic
16. true story - a cappella
17. yes, and?(ft. Mariah Carey)
Tone Deaf Metric
Imperfect For You
And what makes it the best
Ariana Grande has been famous for being able to create hit song after hit song for multiple decades now, and this album is certainly no different. While not as big as the other songs on the album like bye and yes, and?, I believe that her best work is shown in imperfect for you. The lyricism describes an unstable person during a relationship and the difficulties of trying to keep in love and friendship with them. It’s hard to try and be something that you know you can’t be, but still want to help that special person through the problems they’ve been having recently. These lyrics go along with Grande’s smooth tone to really help extend the themes of hurt and pain that come with the situations she describes. The mix and producing done by pop legend Max Martin also helps as it instantly feels like a hit song because of the expertise being put on full display on the pop and R&B track. The song stands above the rest with some of the best vocals on the entire project and with phenomenal lyricism.
Yes, And?(ft. Mariah Carey)
And what makes it the worst
When coming to a conclusion on the worst song on an album, sometimes it comes down to just what you prefer in a song. Yes, and? featuring Mariah Carey finds itself in a weird spot here because it’s not a new song for the album. The track is a remix of the earlier song but with Mariah Carey, just like the Troye Sivan feature for Supernatural. While Supernatural is carried by the already great song that it is, Sivan also helps elevate it to a new level because of how good his vocals are. The opposite of that is where Yes, and? finds itself as the track was just not really improved by the feature being on the album. With the song's tone being low-key and a bit mellow at times, having Carey come in and add high notes to those moments can kind of throw off the vibe of the song. The song is better than the interlude, but since it didn’t have new vocals, I feel it wrong to give it to that as a cop-out option. Since that's the case, this is why I think yes, and? With Mariah Carey is the worst song on the album.
Final Rating
After a three-year break from making albums, Eternal Sunshine came to be an instant success with the single of yes, and? becoming a smash hit overnight. The album is stacked with great after-great songs. The album has some low points but they can't really be seen as much because of the parts it does right. With the tone of the album all being about relationships the project lends itself to relatability easily. Overall a decently great album to start the year.
Credits
Vocals: Ariana Grande
Vocal Appearances: Troye Sivan, Nonna, Mariah Carey
Producer: Shintaro Yasuda, Ariana Grande, Nick Lee, Aaron Cheung, Aaron Paris, Max Martin, Ilya, Will Loftis, DaviDior, Oscar Görres, Luka Kloser
Writers: Ariana Grande, Nick Lee, Aaron Cheung, Aaron Paris, Shintaro Yasuda, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Max Martin, Diana Garland, DaviDior, Oscar Görres, Peter Kahm, Luka Kloser, Nonna, Brett Leland McLaughlin, Troye Sivan, Mariah Carey
Distributed by: Republic Records, Reservoir Media Music, Universal Music Publishing, MXM Music, Wolf Cousins