On March 10, Ariana Grande took to Instagram and announced the highly anticipated deluxe version of her latest album, “Eternal Sunshine.” With six extra tracks and a short film, there’s a lot to discuss about the new release. Let’s unpack the many theories and confirmations that go along with the announcement.
The speculation began on March 8, when Grande teased the release with a short video. This clip included the props from her “We Can’t be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” music video getting burned. “Eternal Sunshine” follows the themes of the Academy-Award-winning movie “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” in which ex lovers choose to erase all the memories they have of each other. This leads fans to believe she has a continuation of this music video in the works that continues the heartbreaking storyline.
Then, on March 10, she posted the album cover of the deluxe album: an eerie blue setting with a floating Ariana Grande getting lifted by a spotlight. Along with the cover, she announced that the release date would be March 28, 2025.
In this post, she tagged a mysterious “Brighter Days” Instagram account. Two days later, she announced that the short film “Brighter Days Ahead” will be released with the deluxe tracks.
As a long time fan, I have been a follower of the Brighter Days Instagram account for a while. This “secret” account has been teasing the release since March 7, posting slides that say “Brighter Days Inc. Erase Your Mind Today!” accompanied by a phone number, (934)33-ERASE. When you call, there is a message from Ariana herself promoting her memory erasure business. At the end of the call she states “…you can stream the Eternal Sunshine deluxe album coming eventually.”
On March 17, Ariana and the Brighter Days account posted the deluxe track titles. These include “intro (end of the world) extended,” “twilight zone,” “warm,” “dandelion,” “past life,” and “hampstead.”
In addition to this, a Brighter Days Inc. set popped up at Universal Studios in California. Many fans speculate that this might be the set for the short film or a music video. There’s a small clip on her Instagram that shows her stepping on cobblestone, which seems to match up with this set.
So, what do we know for sure? “Eternal Sunshine Deluxe” will be released on March 28 along with a short film and 6 deluxe tracks, and Ariana Grande will give her fans an amazing piece of media filled with attention to detail and beautiful sound.
