It has come to the media’s attention that the famous pop star, Ariana Grande, has yet to release a new album titled “Petal.” It all started when the “Thank U, Next” singer began giving out hints, starting with her R.E.M makeup line, following a clip of her promoting a newly launched lip product named Petal. Fans also noticed a pattern with the number eight: the number of posts, an icon on her bio that turned into an 8 once pasted onto a doc, and most importantly, an image of a bouquet of wilted flowers on the eighth slide of another post, a few months prior to her announcement.
Start of an Era
It’s officially been a little over two years since Grande released her most recent album, “Eternal Sunshine,” inspired by the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” a romantic drama starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. This album was directed towards her ongoing divorce at the time, Dalton Gomez, and was also meant to be a response to comments she’s received regarding her appearance, her 3-year relationship with “Wicked” co-star, Ethan Slater, right after her divorce, and her drastic change as a person overall.
Background Information
However, before this album, she had released “Positions” in 2020. This album was supposed to be the end of what would have only been 9 years of music, as she no longer wanted to continue her music career due to her battle with depression during her “Sweetener” era. However, when given the role as Glinda in the musical film “Wicked” two years later, she claimed that the role had been a healing experience for her and had helped her surpass long-term traumas that had resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder and antidepressants. Because of this life-changing experience, she was able to attend the 2024 Met Gala and perform, which she then stated in an interview, “I felt like I woke up today, and I felt like Austin Powers being unfrozen. I was like, ‘Where have I been? Where have I been?” Grande mentioned that the comeback was so intense, she spent 10 days straight locked in her recording studio, which encouraged her to then publish her 2024 album.
What We Know
As of this month, Ariana has been slowly but surely revealing the names of 3-4 tracks in each of her concerts for the Eternal Sunshine Tour countdown, the complete tracklist being displayed on June 19th, night three at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. The album will consist of a total of 12 songs: Kiss Me, Hate that I Made You Love Me, Petal, Stay, Oh Well, Big Feelings, Freak, (Warning Signs), Like I do, Never Get Over Me, Bad Things (Bunny Hop), and last but not least, Nowhere, Nobody. With the second track, “Hate that I Made You Love Me” already being released, fans are beyond impressed with Grande’s new and unique style in music since it differentiates so much from her previous work. The artist herself has described Petal as “a little feral,” explaining that the album goes over finally detaching herself from negative bonds and moving past her own self-doubt, a great way to proceed from Eternal Sunshine, considering its context of the grief of her divorce, wanting to erase the memory of a past lover, self-awareness, and emotional maturity.
Album Release
The album was announced to finally come out on July 31st, and fans are just eager to get a listen! Fortunately for those who’d like to get a head start, pre-orders for the vinyl and streaming platforms have already started and are available on her website, as well as for new merchandise to continue promoting the album.
