On March 8, Ariana Grande made her return to music with eternal sunshine, her first studio album in nearly four years. In the time since her last release, 2020’s Positions, Grande has gotten married, divorced, and found herself in the middle of a cheating scandal with her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.
On March 15, Justin Timberlake made his return to the spotlight with Everything I Thought It Was. Similar to Grande, a lot has happened in Timberlake’s life since his 2018 flop Man Of The Woods, between his almost-affair with Palmer co-star Alisha Wainwright, the #FreeBritney movement, and Britney’s subsequent memoir.
It’s no secret that, leading up to their respective releases, both artists had not been favored very highly in the court of public opinion. But only one of these musicians chose to use this moment to set the record straight, while the other one carried on as if nothing ever happened.
After being labeled a “homewrecker” by the media and deemed “not a girl’s girl” by Slater’s ex-wife Lilly Jay, you’d think Grande would’ve used this project to kick start her reputation era. Instead, she lets the music speak for itself; on eternal sunshine, Grande details the end of her marriage on tracks like “bye” and “don’t wanna break up again,” and tells the tale of her new romance with Slater on “supernatural,” “the boy is mine,” and “imperfect for you.” Outside of the album’s lead single “yes, and?”, she chooses not to acknowledge the fervor surrounding her personal life directly, and instead delivers coded messages to the public on songs like “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” and “true story.”
Clearly this approach worked, because as soon as the album hit streaming services, fans and critics alike were quick to walk back claims of an affair and hail the LP as one of her best (I don’t know if I agree with that, but that’s not the point). The album debuted at number 1, with the second single, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)”, doing the same. It’s possible that Grande’s first release in four years would’ve charted regardless of the subject matter, but there’s no denying that her mild-mannered vocals and matter-of-fact lyrics made audiences more receptive to her story than an album that played the offensive probably would’ve. We felt bad for Grande, we sympathized with her, and even wished her pain away. Now, after eternal sunshine, Grande is officially “un-canceled,” and back in our good graces once again.
The same cannot be said for Timberlake. Don’t let the seemingly pensive-looking cover fool you: there’s not a single ounce of introspection on this album. It’s not like he chose brevity over reflection on this project — with 18 disco, R&B, and afrobeats-infused tracks to sit through, Everything I Thought It Was clocks in at an hour and 17 minutes long, and at least 10 of the songs serve as an ode to sex. God forbid Timberlake remove one of them to even slightly address the controversies he’s been at the center of over the years.
If you’re going to make your grand return without holding yourself accountable, you at least need to tell your side of the story. Truthfully, JT is such a maligned figure these days that even if he had taken the Grande route with this one, it still probably wouldn’t have been enough. That said, brushing everything under the rug and carrying on business as usual is pretty much the worst thing he could’ve done in this situation. Not only does he come across as blissfully unaware this way, but it’s also hard not to view his blatant dismissal of the very valid criticisms surrounding his legacy as a misguided overestimation of his stature in pop culture. It’s if he thinks his talent makes him unimpeachable and above critique (or at the very least, will remind people why they fell in love with him in the first place) but in order to pull that off, you have to make an album that is actually good.
From reclaiming the villain narrative on the aforementioned reputation to doubling down on your actions a la The Chicks’ Taking The Long Way, the post-cancelation comeback album can take many forms. But as we’ve seen this month and beyond, only those that attempt to examine or explain their behaviors and reckon with their notoriety will earn the artist a spot back on top.
Can’t wait to see how Timberlake subverts this conversation again on his next album six years from now.