Ariana Grande is in the midst of her red era — and no, not a Taylor Swift album. The singer has been showing off deep reds lately, especially in the visuals for her upcoming seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. In a recent interview with "The Zach San Show," she confirmed that red is her new-age color for a special reason.
While some fans may associate the color with Grande's winning character Cat Valentine and her iconic hair, she actually had another pop culture character in mind. "I do love the way Clementine's hair looks in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," she said, nodding to Kate Winslet's character in the 2004 film, which inspired her entire look. album concept.
While Winslet sported red and blue hair in the movie, Grande said the "bold" nature of red better suited the "emotional tone" of her new album. "It's like music to me," she said. So it's only natural that red would be an important aspect of Eternal Sunshine 's visuals, from many album covers to the color of the vinyl record itself.
Ariana's red look
The first cover of Eternal Sunshine shows Grande wearing eye-catching red gloves covering her face.
In the other two covers, she wears a red turtleneck mini dress from Theory, paired with red tights and matching Manolo Blahnik Mary Jane pumps.
The singer's promotional looks are also on-brand. During her interview with Sang, she wore a Prada 2006 classic red mini dress with matching tights and black heels. She wore a striking red cashmere coat from The Row and a similar leather jacket while posing with her photographer friend Diggzy, proving she has the album in mind even when off duty.
album inspiration
Grande told Apple Music's Zane Lowe that she first saw "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" when she was very young. "I'm a huge Jim Carrey fan," she said. "My first screen name was JimCarreyFan42...it's always been my favorite."
The film tells the story of Joel Barish, played by Jim Carrey, who discovers that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Winslet) has had the memory of their relationship wiped from her brain. Heartbroken, he decided to undergo the same surgery.
The singer teased a similar storyline in the trailer for her new music video "We Can't Be Friends (Waiting for Your Love)," in which she signs a consent form for the surgery called "Peaches."
In a March 7 interview, Grande confirmed that "Eternal Sunshine" contains lyrical elements of the film's themes. "I think this movie is so beloved because a lot of people know something is wrong but love it so much that they want to stay and they want to fix it," she said. "I thought there were some tidbits about the subject in these songs that were kind of spot on. I just felt so inspired."
Considering her 2023 divorce from Dalton Gomez, her new relationship with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, and the amount of visuals in the movie Clues, the album Eternal Sunshine seems to revisit (metaphorically) some of Grande's most important memories from before. Wipe the slate clean and allow yourself to move on.
