On March 28 2025, Ariana Grande released “Brighter Days” the deluxe version for her 2024 album “Eternal Sunshine”. The deluxe version adds six new songs, each one continuing the story of “Eternal Sunshine”, with Ariana navigating through the same mysteries, nightmares, and anxieties. Although she only adds six new songs, each song has its own unique sound and meaning, setting it apart. After the re-release, “Eternal Sunshine” reached number one on the Billboard 200, marking its third week as number one on the charts. With 61,000 album sales and 98.45 million streams, “Brighter Days” is clearly loved by people around the world, and rightfully so.
“Brighter Days” also includes collaborations with different artists like Mariah Carey, Brandy and Monica, and Troye Sivan. Ariana collaborates with these artists in remixes of her most successful songs from “Eternal Sunshine”, such as “Yes, And?” and “The Boy Is Mine”, allowing fans to not only revisit these songs, but also listen to them in a new light due to other artists being a part of the songs. As a personal favorite, “The Boy is Mine” remix with Brandy and Monica stood out especially to me because of how well Brandy and Monica’s deep and powerful voice complemented Ariana’s softer tones in the song, and it felt especially fitting to see them be featured in the song as they first sang the song “The Boy is Mine”. However, the “Supernatural” remix with Troye Sivan comes as an extremely close second, as both of their voices fit extremely well together and with the song, and it makes the song even better than it already was.
In terms of the lyrics and the meaning of the album, the new soundtracks added explore the same themes seen in “Eternal Sunshine”. Many of the new sounds added are about moving on and reflecting from past relationships, personal growth, and liberation. As you listen to the new songs in order, Ariana goes on a journey of expressing her anxieties and uncertainties of relationships in “End of The World”, to exploring the wishes and desires of a romantic relationship in “Dandelion”, to finally see Ariana Grande discovering herself and liberating herself in “Hampstead”. We even see a Ariana Grande finally acknowledge her trying to get over her ex-husband Dalton Gomez, as the song talks about her complex situation in moving on from him with lyrics such as “Not that I miss you I don’t, I just can’t believe you happened”, “Pretend that these songs aren’t about you, I’m not fooling anyone”.
The six new soundtracks added to the song are all amazing as well and bring different vibes with each song, yet three of them stood the most out to me. Starting off with my personal favorite, “Twilight Zone” has a similar vibe to “We Cant Be Friends, with an amazing chorus, echoing voice, and lyrics that are catchy yet also provide a deeper meaning making it great to listen to over and over again. Next, “Dandelion” is a great song for fans who missed Ariana grande’s “Sweetener” and “Thank You Next Era”, as it brings back her sultry voice and upbeat instrumentals that were in her previous songs and that lots of people missed from her old songs. Overall, “Dandelion” combines the tone shifts from her previous songs with her much softer vocal sound that she has in her songs now. As well as these other songs, “Past Life” stands out with its somewhat dark instrumentals and a perfect pre chorus that creates a great contrast with the upbeat and powerful chorus, showcasing her status as a power vocalist and making the song very reflective with the lyrics emphasizing self growth.
Despite the small amount of new songs added to the album, “Brighter Days” does a great job at painting a picture of Ariana navigating the same nightmares and doubts that she faces in “Eternal Sunshine”, but adds new perspectives of self growth and liberation. Considering the songs itself, the lyrics, and the collaborations, the album is a complete 5 stars and definitely worth a listen.
