Twilight Zone (Ariana Grande song)

"Twilight Zone" is named after The Twilight Zone, a series that Grande herself had referenced and spoken about regularly in the years prior to the song's release.^[1] On October 30, 2019, she dressed as a pig-faced version of herself for Halloween, inspired by the episode titled "Eye of the Beholder" (1959).^[2] The track was revealed to be part of the deluxe edition of her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine on March 17, 2025.^[3]

"Twilight Zone" is a synth-pop song^[4] that opens with a "delicate, ethereal melody" and continues minimalistically with a "haunting" undertone against "dreamy synths and deceptively breezy production"^[5] that allow Grande's vocals to "shine". The singer showcases her higher vocal register to express "emotional depth." It explores themes of surreality in the context of love and life alongside "chillwave-adjacent" sounds that create a "mysterious atmosphere" throughout the song.^[6]

She uses the metaphor of the twilight zone to express bewilderment that a former relationship happened.^[7] The song was seen as Grande alluding to her relationship with ex-husband Dalton Gomez, delivering a final message to him through the song.^[8]

Marcus Adetola of Neon Music found the song to be "haunting, unfinished" but with a "more honest" delivery than a polished piece of music could. Adetola called the song "the one that quietly cuts deepest" by an artist that has done "self-reflection" to come back with a clear message.^[5] To Jordi Bardají of Jenesaispop, the song felt like a continuation of her 2024 single "We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)", finding similarities in their sounds and concepts.^[9] In a ranking of all the deluxe edition tracks for Billboard, Kyle Denis placed it third, saying that the song "pumps some verve" into the tracklist through a "somber Max Martin-helmed synth-pop beat" while lyrically, it plays "more directly into the divorce album aesthetic" than the standard edition tracks.^[10]

Streaming/digital download – single

1. "Twilight Zone" – 3:18
2. "Twilight Zone" (a cappella) – 3:01
3. "Twilight Zone" (instrumental) – 3:18