After an almost five-year long break from making music, former Disney channel star and Billboard chart topper, Selena Gomez released her much-anticipated collaborative album “I Said I Love You First”, co-produced with her fiance, Benny Blanco.
The album narrates their journey of healing from past relationships and finding happiness with each other and consists of a blend of different genres including Hyper pop, Latin pop and R&B. It also features various collabs with other artists such as That’s So True singer, Gracie Abrams, The Marías, Tainy, and J Balvin, along with additional contributions from Brat singer Charli XCX and Finneas.
The album begins with the track “I Said I Love You First” which is a recording of Gomez’s heartfelt speech on her last day at the set of Wizards of Waverly Place, thanking the cast and crew for everything they had done to help her and promising to make them proud. This track serves as a bittersweet reminder of 18-year-old Gomez and is the perfect transition to her next song “Younger And Hotter Than Me” where she reflects on the enormous pressure faced by child stars like herself.
Prior to the album’s release, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Gracie Abrams would be collaborating with Gomez, especially after listening to Abrams’s chart topping album “The Secret of Us”. Their collaboration on “Call Me When You Break Up” did not disappoint, maintaining an upbeat and playful vibe throughout the song.
Another one of my favorite songs in this album is “How Does It Feel To Be Forgotten?”, largely due to its calming melody which contrasts with its stinging lyrics. It also includes references to Gomez’s other albums, such as the lyrics “Look at you, just look at you now”, a deliberate reference to her 2020 smash hit, “Look at Her Now”.
Although this album contains many melodious songs I think it had the potential to have been even better. Tracks like “Bluest Flame” were catchy, but repetitive. Gomez mostly sings down tempo songs and including more tracks showcasing a higher vocal range could have improved this album drastically.
All in all,“I Said I Love You First” is definitely worth a listen, especially if you enjoy calm songs with an easy going, chill vibe.
