In case anybody wants a summary of the interview, here's one courtesy of Sanctuary on PopJustice! -

 

Recording a new album after 4 years:

- She wasn't going to make music until after Wicked II came out; later says to Zach that she thought their next interview about an album would have taken place in 2027.

- Says the strike gave her some free time to let some things out and she did most of the recording by herself at Jungle City Studios for a few weeks.

- Says her relationship to music has healed and changed by taking space from it. That getting to play a character gave her clarity from having to be a caricature of who she is in order to be a pop star. "I used to feel like I had to be pop star Ari 90% of the time and human Ari 10% of the time but I feel like human Ari now 99% of the time"

 

Wicked and acting:

- Hints she wants to continue giving a bit more space between releases to keep that balance.

- Said Wicked was basically a two-year long process of auditions and what she was doing in secret during The Voice.

- Felt that Galinda taught her how to take up space and not be so apologetic for her wants and needs.

- A tour for Eternal Sunshine is 'TBD' since "the next year is planned". If it was something, it'd be a shorter tour, but nothing is ready to start planning. Says the Sweetener World tour was really hard emotionally for her but not because of touring and more-so where she felt personally at the time. That, like with recording, the time away has helped her miss "doing shows" and get back into the mindset of being happy at the idea of them.

 

Hints about the album:

- There's a song with lyrics where she references herself as "babygirl". Zach said he got the impression it was her talking to her younger self.

- Returning to Saturn in terms of astrology is a main theme of the album

- The lyrics "say everything and nothing at the same time", "vague but very specific all at once". You can tell Zach is trying to navigate how to ask how to frame her addressing the Ethan stuff.

- Said she cried a lot during the album, even when "writing the bops". Says "there's a lot of bops" despite the "emotional context being 'like woah'".

- She felt very reactive during the writing process and so she did a second pass of the songs to make sure she felt she was writing from a place of love. Referenced "Track 2" ("Bye") and how the subject matter might be assumed as a "f*** you" but she approaches it in terms of "love and transparency". "Giving credit for trying, for the goodness that there was".

- Measurably uncomfortable with some of the songs being misinterpreted since she plays into ideas people have about her as part of the concept. It's "hellish to see people you love and yourself be misunderstood".

- Says she knows some fans will be upset the album is short but she feels it's a "really concise record" and that's why she didn't put out any single beforehand besides "yes, and?" cause she wants it heard in full.

- Zach said it was "nostalgic yet present at the same time" in terms of sound.

 

Leaks and Fantasize:

- Re-confirms Fantasize was never for her project. It was for a TV project and she seemed frustrated still it leaked.

- Jokes that the people who stole her music should have tried to sell them back to her to not leak, says she hopes she sees them in jail.

- (Jokingly) calls "you all' hypocrites for how much love Fantasize got.

- Said there's a song on the album that "took the note" of re: Fantasize and it's like "Ariana's version" of Fantasize. "Some of those seedlings from [those sessions] made it onto the album."

- Zach mentions AI covers and asks if she's heard any of them. Says she finds the whole concept terrifying.

 

@1762288541797658624

Thanks for sharing that summary Jay as I haven’t had time to watch yet! :wub:

 

I imagine part 2 will be more eternal sunshine-centric as it seems she barely gave anything away in that one.

 

Full track list is out:

 

intro (end of the world)

bye

don’t wanna break up again

saturn returns (interlude)

eternal sunshine

supernatural

true story

the boy is mine

yes, and?

we can’t be friends (wait for your love)

i wish i hated you

imperfect for you

ordinary things (feat. nonna)

 

Omg at her grandma being the sole feature :lol:

I wonder if she can challenge for her best pure sales opening yet with this?

 

Does anyone have a Ariana albums sales for week one list? (With the pure sales). I can definitely see it happening just with the variants and artworks.

Yours Truly - 7,164

My Everything- 23,766

Dangerous Woman - 14,278

Sweetener - 27,306

thank u, next - 21,403

Positions - 9,172

Watched it now - indeed part 2 is going to be a track-by-track run down :cheer:

 

A point of interest for me in part 1 not yet covered was the red theming of the album partially being inspired by one of Clementine's ever-changing hair colours in the movie:

 

 

Although the cover that is being used for Spotify isn't even one of the red ones:

 

@1762496377911738719

 

This was probably my favourite moment of the interview:

 

@1762285714044067915

 

:lol:

She appears to be teasing music video #2:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Perhaps for the title track? The outfit looks very Clementine inspired 💗

Yours Truly - 7,164

My Everything- 23,766

Dangerous Woman - 14,278

Sweetener - 27,306

thank u, next - 21,403

Positions - 9,172

 

Thank you for this!

 

Well I can definitely see this having more physicals than positions just due to the pre order length and different variants. I feel like she could possibly actually get her biggest physicals week yet. We’ll soon find out next week when the albums released.

She appears to be teasing music video #2:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Perhaps for the title track? The outfit looks very Clementine inspired 💗

 

Fab boots!

@1763988311473869170

 

<3 so excited for everything coming next week

Ariana flew out some super fans who run big stan accounts to hear the album early :o

 

View this post on Instagram

 

One of the fans in question said Ari's favourites from the album were: 'eternal sunshine', 'we can't be friends' and 'imperfect for you'!

View this post on Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Just three days to go now! 🌞

Looks like a Zane Lowe interview is coming tomorrow! Here for all the promo this time.

 

@1765361131231617496

Does anyone else have a feeling this is going to be her best album?

My "eternal sunshine" CD and "yes, and?" remix CD have both been dispatched! :cheer:

Why do I feel like there is hardly any album hype this time around?

 

I hope the quality is good...

Why do I feel like there is hardly any album hype this time around?

 

I hope the quality is good...

 

There isn't. The bad chart days are over - and all the over the top promo is giigng me Witness vibes - but I think the album is gonna be great, and that's all we can ask for

Zane Lowe interview is here! A few mins in and she looks fantastic :heart:

 

 

Does anyone else have a feeling this is going to be her best album?

Dangerous Woman is such a high bar for me but am really hoping to love this after 'yes, and?' and an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind theme, cannot wait to hear! I'm barely going to have any free time tomorrow but you best believe I'll be spamming over the weekend :P

 

My "eternal sunshine" CD and "yes, and?" remix CD have both been dispatched! :cheer:

My vinyl and remix CD have shipped too :cheer: have procrastinated on ordering any CD copies of the album yet but might go with the bundle of 4, I'll draw the line at multiple vinyl copies though :lol:

Giving this a spin now. the boy is mine. SLAPS.

Saturn Returns Interlude into eternal sunshine. SLAPS.

The run until yes, and? Sublime.

 

This is her best album by far.

This is the best album this year so far, alas. It’s March :lol:

 

Unexpected, pretty flawless in my opinion apart from one track. My only criticism, too short.

I wish I could give this another spin, but I need to PASS OUT. I am giving “the boy is mine” and “we can’t be friends” another spin before I fall asleep however.

Edited March 8, 20241 yr by Aaron.

I gave this a listen on the way to work and I already need to listen again.

 

On first listen pretty much the whole thing was strong. Often with Ariana she can have some pretty funky tracklisting orders but with this album it was pretty seamless and it flowed pretty well throughout.

 

bye, don’t wanna break up again, we can’t be friends and imperfect for you stood out the most for me on first listen. I’ll definitely be replaying this over the weekend though and seeing what else stands out and how my ranking fares.

 

yes, and? Is kinda the odd one out on the album in the sense that it’s the most different sounding maybe that’s why it was the lead? But it isn’t representative of the album now I’ve heard the whole thing.

 

There was some review id seen last week where someone who’d heard the album early said it was like the best parts of the Sweetener and thank u, next eras and I kind of see that from hearing it.

 

For me (this may just down to taste) but I think it’s stronger than positions a whole album just off first listen (although that did grow). So far impressed though.

I've only heard 4 tracks so far but I can already tell it's her best album since Dangerous Woman with very considerable ease.

I don't usually like whole Ari albums, usually it's just the singles plus a couple of others, but this... is just brilliant all the way through! Her best album for me hands down. 'imperfect for you' is probably my favourite track on there.

Edited March 8, 20241 yr by Mangø