ARIANA GRANDE is one of the most talked about artists on the planet who rarely opens up about her personal life.
And for the past year, she has kept a dignified silence as rumours swirled around the globe about her divorce from Dalton Gomez and shock new romance with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.
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But it’s safe to say that with her seventh album Eternal Sunshine, her first in four years, Ariana has found her voice once more.
While the record sticks to Ariana’s tried-and-tested method of sugarysweet pop sounds, complete with sky-high vocals, this new release is easily her most vulnerable and raw body of work.
Between slick beats and melodies, the Thank U, Next singer reveals how the breakdown of her two-year marriage saw her going to therapy and crying herself to sleep every night.
At the time of writing the album, she was living a very low-key life in north London, having relocated to the capital while filming the two-part, big-screen adaptation of hit musical Wicked.
And while she was still married to Dalton, Ariana, who plays the good witch Glinda in Wicked, uses her lyrics to seemingly question the strength of her relationship with Dalton and its eventual breakdown.
‘Really vulnerable’
On opening track Intro (End Of The World), Ariana sings: “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship? Aren’t you really supposed to know that s**t? Then I had this interaction I have been thinking about for like five weeks.
“Wonder if he is thinking about it too and smiling.”
The lyrics will do little to slow the gossip mill around their relationship, with some believing there was an overlap between Ariana’s marriage to Dalton and her blossoming romance with Ethan — claims which has been heavily denied.
Keen to dampen the fire, Ariana says Eternal Sunshine is a “concept album” and that the record takes in all aspects of her life, along with imaginary situations.
But this has led to speculation over which tracks are about her experiences and which are merely artistic creations.
In Bye, she leaves little doubt that it is based on the final moments of her marriage by repeatedly name-checking her childhood friend Courtney Chipolone for standing by her and picking her up from her marital home when things hit the rocks for the final time.
Ariana sings: “At least I know how hard we tried.
“So I grab my stuff, Courtney just pulled up in the driveway, it’s time, bye-bye. Maybe someday we’ll look back with love.
“Didn’t think you’d lose me. Now it’s just too late to choose me.”
Undeniably a divorce album, rather than being packed with man-hating anthems, Eternal Sunshine is a trip through the stages of grief and losing someone you love. It covers everything from anger and to upset to picking up and starting again.
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Speaking about the record with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Ariana said: “It was really vulnerable and really special.
“Showcasing both sides of it [a relationship breaking down], is what I tried to balance.
“That this feeling can be true and another feeling can be true simultaneously.
“I wasn’t really listening to myself in a lot of areas where I could have been. My nervous system was screaming at me to make changes but I was a person who wasn’t listening.
I wasn’t really listening to myself in a lot of areas where I could have been
Ariana Grande
“I now try to listen to it more. It’s not protective to ignore these feelings, it’s actually super-counterproductive.”
Don’t Wanna Break Up Again has also been earmarked by fans as a true insight into Ariana’s past couple of years.
She sings: “I fall asleep crying, you turn up the TV. You don’t wanna hear me.”
She later adds: “Baby, I made it so easy. Spent so much on therapy. With my own co-dependency. But you didn’t even try.”
Unlike many of her past albums, Eternal Sunshine appears to have spilled out of Ariana in an almost urgent need to give her take on what really went on.
Opening up about writing the record, Ari said: “It was fast but it wasn’t too fast. It took three and a half months.
“This is my seventh record, it’s a long time to be doing this but this is the first time I have felt really present for it and been able to enjoy it. It was emotional. It feels very different.”
Fans of the singer, and those new to her music, have already started lapping up the tracks.
I fully expect to see it riding high at the top of the charts for weeks to come.
THE TRACKS OF HER TEARS
HERE is our pick of the best tracks on Ariana’s new album.
BYE: An upbeat break-up track about finally calling it quits with ex-husband Dalton Gomez. Confirming the track is biographical, Ariana namechecks childhood friend Courtney Chipolone.
Key lyrics: “At least I know how hard we tried, both you and me. So I grab my stuff, Courtney just pulled up in the driveway, it’s time, bye-bye. Maybe someday we’ll look back with love. Didn’t think you’d lose me. Now it’s just too late to choose me.”
ETERNAL SUNSHINE: The album’s title track is an infectiously catchy song about both people moving on, with Ariana seemingly angry at how her husband behaved during their time together, hinting he cheated.
Key lyrics: “I’ve never seen someone lie like you do. So much, even you start to think it’s true. I showed you all my demons, all my lies. Yet you played me like Atari. So now we play our separate scenes. Now she’s in my bed, layin’ on your chest. Now I’m in my head, wondering how it ends.”
SUPERNATURAL: A sugary sweet track about finding love, believed to be about falling for her Wicked co-star ETHAN SLATER – with some not-so-subtle words.
Key lyrics: “Need your hands all up on my body. Like the moon needs the stars. Nothing else felt this way inside me. Want you to make me yours.”
WE CAN’T BE FRIENDS: Sure to be a hit, this track is about trying to keep her new love a secret – while falling head over heels.
Key lyrics: “I don’t wanna tiptoe but I don’t wanna hide. But I don’t wanna feed this monstrous fire. Just wanna let this story die. You got me misunderstood but at least I look good.”
Si looks cross
HE’S already got a bit of a God complex as it is, so Simon Cowell must have been in his element after dressing up as a priest for a party.
The Britain’s Got Talent judge and his fiancée Lauren Silverman invited his pal Lucy Spraggan over to his house for a Murder Mystery evening.
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The singer and former X Factor constant, with Simon, wore a white shirt and checked trousers for the fun.
Sharing the snaps on Instagram said: “Back in Jan in Barbados, I showed Simon and the fam my favourite game ever . . . Werewolf.
“After we’d finished a few rounds and everyone was pointing the werewolf blame at each other, it was revealed none of us had ever done a murder mystery. That had to be corrected.
“Fast forward to when Simon and Lauren hosted the most hilarious, engaging and entertaining evening of murder mystery. Not to mention some insane food.”
I imagine Simon won’t be taking off his costume for a while.
HULL OF A RIDE FOR MOLLIE
IF you’ve got a relaxing weekend ahead, spare a thought for Mollie King.
The Saturdays singer and BBC Radio 1 DJ is preparing for her mammoth 310-mile cycling challenge for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day.
From Monday, Mollie will be cycling from London to Hull, the hometown of her late dad Stephen, to raise a bucketload of cash for the charity.
She lost her father in November after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Rather than taking a straight route, and to make it more challenging, Mollie will be meandering across the UK, taking in cities such as Burton-Upon-Trent, Manchester and Leeds.
We’ll be cheering her on and if you want to donate, visit comicrelief.com/pedalpower.
Mollie said: “The closer the start date gets, the more daunting it’s becoming.
“I’ve been training for the last few weeks on an exercise bike and learning how to cycle on the road too. It’s been an incredibly steep learning curve.”
You can do it, Mollie.