The video appears to be a continuation of the Eternal Sunshine short film Brighter Days Ahead and follows the singer revealing that she has been “working on a plan to sing for you all next year”
In the short film Brighter Days Ahead, Ariana Grande revisits the past as Peaches, an elderly woman visiting Brighter Days Inc. to watch the final four scenes she had extracted from her memory when she wiped her ex from her mind. The final scene shows Peaches placing a hand over her heart and shutting her eyes, offering a silent farewell to the past. But according to a teaser Grande shared on Instagram, that might not have been the end after all.
“A corrupt file has been found and corrected,” a robotic voice announces in the new trailer. Moments later, the familiar wrinkles of Peaches’ hand appear on screen as she reaches to access another memory. The video ends with a message: “See you next year… Announcement loading.”
The clip doesn’t provide any specific context around what the announcement pertains to, or when it will arrive. But fans are holding out hope that it could be related to Grande making a true return to the stage. In July, Grande noted that she has no plans to “abandon singing & music,” despite the time she’s spent promoting both parts of Wicked, the film adaptation of the musical that places her in her dream role as Glinda. “I’m working on a plan to sing for you all next year,” she said on Instagram at the time. “Even if it’s just for a little. I love you.”
The musician hasn’t toured since December 2019, when she wrapped the Sweetener World Tour. This would mean that she hasn’t translated Eternal Sunshine or Positions into any live setting since their respective releases. Grande has spoken recently about how her relationship with touring has changed over the years, saying on the the Zach Sang Show that she had “a really hard time emotionally” on her last tour and needed to “redefine my relationship to shows when I’m ready.”
In her Instagram post from July, she suggested that she found a way forward. “It may not look exactly like it did before but I much prefer how it looks in my head. I am having fun. I feel grateful and excited and inspired,” she wrote, “finding a balance, between many projects and endeavors I love, and doing it my own way.”
