Selena Gomez released her fourth studio album, “I Said I Love You First,” with her fiancé and influential music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco on March 21. The 14-track record details love, lust and heartbreak, with the title serving as a nod to how Gomez was the one to say “I love you” to Blanco first.
Title track “I Said I Love You First” opens the album with a spoken interlude that Gomez dedicates to the people who have “helped [her] grow up.” With the clicks of a camera shutter and light piano in the background, the singer gives her speech, saying, “I really hope that I won't let you down with everything else that I do / So thank you for being a part of my life and the beginning of something I hope lasts a long time.” While not a song, “I Said I Love You First” sets the tone for a heartfelt and vulnerable album.
However, this initial framing of the album’s tone is more of a premise than a promise, as the fifth track on the album and second single, “Sunset Blvd,” takes an inconsistent approach. Instead of vulnerability and rawness, the listener is met with overproduction and a sexualized performance.
Not only is Gomez’s voice on the track strangely autotuned, but her attempts to be cheeky and sexy ultimately fall flat. There is a fine line between dirty humor and uncomfortable quips, and wordplay only works when it is smart. Lyrics like “I just wanna touch it, touch it / Try your hardest not to bust it / Give me, give me, how I love your big, big heart,” make it hard not to cringe. Gomez’s excessive bluntness regarding the song’s message takes the “double” out of “double entendre.”
Lyrically, track 11 “You Said You Were Sorry” shines. Outside of potentially referencing her past relationship with Justin Bieber, who wrote the hit song “Sorry” (2015) allegedly about Gomez, this track describes how you never know love until you find it. “Oh, this is love, now I get why people like it / Really like it, you should try it,” she sings.
Recognizing that she was in love while also criticizing her ex-flame for never genuinely loving her, Gomez acknowledges how sometimes closure can come from getting peace of mind rather than from reality: “But I had a dream / You said you were sorry … I had a dream / That's all it was / That was enough for me.”
“You Said You Were Sorry” is peaceful, featuring birds chirping alongside Gomez’s quieter voice that almost feels like it is being sung underwater. However, she and Blanco use this muted tone repeatedly throughout the rest of the album, taking away from the unique beauty of it on this track.
In “I Said I Love You First,” Gomez experiments with forms of artistry and language. She sings in Spanish on “Ojos Tristes (with The Marías)” and features artists J Balvin and Tainy rapping in Spanish on “I Can’t Get Enough (benny blanco, Selena Gomez, J Balvin, Tainy).” Featuring two spoken word tracks, this album presents a less-mainstream product than Gomez’s previous work.
However, traces of her pop sound linger. For example, the album’s first single, “Call Me When You Break Up (with Gracie Abrams),” begins with a cheeky automated voicemail message, setting the stage for a fun, upbeat song.
In this track, Abrams, rather than Gomez, is the true star. The low notes fit her vocal range perfectly, and the fast-paced nature of the track suits her characteristically breathless style. And, although Gomez’s lyrics are simple, the song’s energy is solid. In fact, the song was not made to be complicated, something Gomez emphasizes with the straightforward music video in which Gomez and Abrams simply lip-sync to a vertical selfie camera.
In other songs, like “How Does It Feel To Be Forgotten,” there is a disconnect between Gomez’s intent and how the music comes across. The track is deeply personal as Gomez details her discontent in a previous relationship, however, the autotuned sound of her voice contradicts this vulnerability, creating a clash between the honest lyrics and the impersonal sound.
Closing out the album, the intimate “Scared Of Loving You” reminds the audience that while some songs in this album are about past relationships, the record as a whole is centered around her current relationship with Blanco.
With a simple guitar and a raw voice, Gomez admits, “'Cause I'm not scared of lovin' you / I'm just scared of losin' you / I'm not scared of anyone or dying young / Or if you're gonna find somebody new.” Gomez is confident in loving Blanco but also confesses that insecurity can emerge from the fear of losing someone you love. The sweet nature of this song makes up for what it lacks in production.
Ultimately, “I Said I Love You First” is a journey — one in which Gomez searches for her mature sound and Blanco searches for the auto-tune button. With songs like “Cowboy” and “Bluest Flame” channeling other singers like Lana Del Rey and Charli xcx, respectively, it is clear Gomez is not afraid to try on different styles to see what sticks. Her exploration sometimes results in over-produced tracks, but there are nonetheless some hidden gems epitomizing the sincerity that ebbs throughout Gomez’s latest project.
Amelia Bush (she/her) (28C) is majoring in English. She is from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and enjoys walking around their many lakes. Outside of the Wheel, you can find her reading, scrapbooking, or playing tennis.
