Ariana Grande is shedding some light on the process of making her new album Eternal Sunshine. In an Instagram post Wednesday (March 20), the pop star shared a couple moments from her studio sessions with producer/pop mastermind Max Martin, as well as one of the original demo recordings of her No. 1 single “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).”
One clip posted by Grande finds Martin — who’s also worked with Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and more A-list artists — looking confused as he edits tracks on a digital recording workspace. “This goes on and on, it never stops,” he says of an audio file, perplexed, making the “Positions” singer laugh. “It’s like you’re writing a novel.”
Martin engineered much of Eternal Sunshine, which dropped March 8 and recently debuted atop the Billboard 200. Grande previously shared footage of her recording Billboard Hot 100-topping single “Yes, And?” with the producer, including a viral clip of her showing him how to work a gadget in ProTools.
The track would go on to give Martin the most No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 of any other producer in history — a record he’d later extend with Grande’s new single, “We Can’t Be Friends,” which debuted atop the chart dated March 23.
Speaking of “We Can’t Be Friends,” Grande also included a peek at one of her original passes at the emotional breakup ballad in her post. Recorded Sept. 9, 2023, in iPhone’s voice memo app, the clip finds the singer testing out melodies over a demo instrumental, feeling out where background vocals may work best.
Plus, the Wicked star posted a hilarious clip of her dog Toulouse standing outside the studio door during a session for “Imperfect for You,” one of the final tracks on Eternal Sunshine (which Grande performed on Saturday Night Live March 9). As a recording of the ethereal track plays, the little brown pup stares through the door’s window, looking quite sad that he’s not allowed in the room.
Read more
