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27 February 2024, 11:36 | Updated: 27 February 2024, 17:33
Ariana Grande jumped on the Zach Sang Show ahead of her new album ‘Eternal Sunshine’ and her role as Glinda in Wicked, but what did she have to say about her music that was leaked in 2023?
Ariana Grande sat down with radio host and close friend Zach Sang to start promotions surrounding her upcoming album ‘Eternal Sunshine’ which drops on the 8th of March, her role as Glinda in the upcoming Wicked film as well as some insight into her personal life.
Part one of the two-part interview has been released and the conversation quickly turned to the elephant in the room; her music that was leaked in 2023 and subsequently went viral on TikTok.
As the singer discussed her excitement at working with producer Max Martin again, whom she’s collaborated with to some extent on all six of her previous albums, Ariana revealed that she and Max had recorded some demos during a session in New York right before she left to film Wicked.
One of these demos was named ‘Fantasize’, which was the song that was leaked and used on TikTok without her consent.
Despite being upset about the leak at the time, Ariana managed to laugh it off during the interview, saying “Thank you so much. I’ll see you in jail. Literally.”
Whilst the offender was forced to pay a $10,000 fine and do some community service, there’s no record of them needing to go to jail.
But it seems like Ariana’s managed to make a positive out of the whole situation because she’s taken on board the reaction from the public to the track and reworked it to feature on ‘Eternal Sunshine.’
Ariana revealed that the leaked version was a demo made for a tv show, “It was like a parody of this girl group vibe. But [the fans] love it… It’s so corny, but it’s okay. I took the note and I kind of gave them Ariana’s version of that on the album. ”
“They’re completely different now. So although you’ve heard them, because you stole them, they’re very different now.”
It seems like the entirety of ‘Eternal Sunshine’ is something completely new to Ariana.
The name is a reference to the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, “It's kind of a concept album, which I haven't done before. That's kind of why I don't want to put out a second single before the album [releases], because I'd like for it to be heard in one piece," she says in the interview.
"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. Even some of the bops I cried writing.”
Ariana has been open about her struggles with anxiety and depression in the past and revealed that it was during her break from writing music as she prepared for her role as Glinda, that she ending up writing the most poignant songs on her album
“I had to completely erase pop star Ari, the person they know so well, because it’s harder to believe someone as someone else because they’re so branded as one thing. I had to really go all the way to strip that down,” she said on getting into character.
“But the thing that was beautiful about it was that, when I was writing, it was with no intention for the world to hear it.”
But Ariana’s been around the block and she explained she knew it couldn’t be as simple as that, because the public will always put their own meaning onto things, “And then when I was done I remembered that people will hear it, and how sometimes people will sensationalise things and assign meaning to certain things.”
Whether she was speaking generically about how the media sensationalises everything or whether she was specifically talking about how she found herself in the headlines over her new relationship with Ethan Slater in the latter half of 2023, it's not specified.
Ariana Grande stars in Wicked trailer
Ariana’s love life has always been in the spotlight, from Mac Miller to Pete Davidson, however in 2023 the world was taken aback when headlines read that Ariana and fellow Wicked co-star Ethan Slater were rumoured to be dating, both having recently separated from their partners.
She didn't address their relationship, which received backlash over their timing, but what Ariana did express in her interview was that some of the songs on the album address the “inexplicable hellish feeling [of] watching people misunderstand the people you love and you.”
It’s unconfirmed, but what’s for sure is that Ariana’s upcoming album is set to be an emotional rollercoaster for her fans.
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