Ariana Grande is getting candid about the inspiration for her new music and the “heartbreak” songs featured on her forthcoming album, Eternal Sunshine.
Grande recently sat down for a rare interview on The Zach Sang Show — on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch — and she opened up about her writing process and how she revised and refined her music after penning her songs during an emotional and turbulent time in her life.
“I definitely did several passes at all of the songs, just to kind of be protective, because I wrote them when I was very emotional,” Grande said, adding that the album isn’t all sad, and has quite a few fun bobs. However, she admitted with a laugh, “Even some of the bops, I cried while writing.”
According to Grande, “What was beautiful about it was that while I was writing [there was] no intention for the world to hear it. I was just like, ‘Let’s just go, let’s see what comes out.'”
“And then when I was done, I remembered that people will hear it and how sometimes people can sensationalize things,” she added, “and assign meaning to certain things, and I combed through [the lyrics] just to make sure that it was what I intended.”
While she didn’t mention her split from ex-husband Dalton Gomez — whom she divorced last October after two years of marriage — she did reflect on how she wrote many of her new songs in a place of heartache and turmoil. Yet through the darkness she saw a light.
“Even at my most heartbroken or my most pained moments of the past few years, there was so much kindness, there was so much love, there was so much honesty and transparency and respect,” Grande shared. “So even at the hardest moments of the loss and the grief that you hear on some of the album, some of the heartbreak stuff, there was so much love and transparency.”
For Grande, even her “heartbreak” songs weren’t meant to be vindictive, but rather cathartic.
“That was something that I really wanted to make sure was captured. It wasn’t like a ‘F**k you’ at all, or ever… I tried to make sure it was kind and giving credit for trying and for the goodness that there was,” Grande explained.
“That was like a tricky balance for me, because I definitely had some sessions where I was writing more emotionally and reactively,” she added. “But that’s also very human. So I didn’t want to erase all of it.”
Throughout her high-profile divorce from Gomez, and in the months following, Grande has been romantically involved with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.
A source confirmed to ET in July that Grande and Gomez had called it quits. Around the same time, TMZ reported that Slater had filed for divorce from his wife of five years while another source reiterated to ET that Grande and Slater started dating after both had split from their respective spouses.
Their relationship has reportedly been going steady in the proceeding months. A source told ET last month that the romance between the singer and Broadway star was growing stronger, with the couple becoming more comfortable with the public aspect of their relationship. Described as having a “natural connection,” the source said the two are focused on the present and excited about the future of their blossoming love.
The insider shared at the time, “Ariana and Ethan are spending more and more time together. They have become more comfortable with the idea of their relationship being more public. Things are positive and they’re very close. They have a natural connection. There’s no pressure to be anyone that they’re not. They’re focused on the here and now and excited to continue to see where their relationship goes and watch it blossom.”
Meanwhile, Grande is gearing up for the release of Eternal Sunshine on March 8, and she took to Instagram on Tuesday to share the track list for the new album — where she also revealed her grandmother, whom she affectionately calls Nonna, is featured on one of the tracks:
Part 2 of Grande’s interview on The Zach Sang Show will be available on March 8, exclusively on Amazon Music. See part 1 of Grande’s full interview below:
RELATED CONTENT: