Selena Gomez Makes an Emotional Return to Music with Two New Tracks
Selenators, now is the time to rejoice! The droplets era is finally over Selena Gomez has finally kicked off the campaign for her upcoming album, her first since 2015's Revival. For the past couple of years, Selena has sporadically released new music. We got really strong songs like "Back to You," "Bad Liar," and "Fetish"; DJ collaborations in "Wolves" and "It Ain't Me"; and the utterly forgettable "Taki Taki."
This week, on Wednesday and Thursday, Selena returned with two brand new solo tracks and music videos. It is still unclear which track will be the primary radio single, but unlike some other pop stars, Selena has successfully pulled off a dual release.
The first track, "Lose You to Love Me" is a gorgeous piano ballad. The title is pretty self-explanatory, on the track Selena sings about the necessity of pain and loss to truly learn how to love herself. Lyrically, the track is quite beautiful; the use of metaphor toes the line of excess, but the repetition of that particular songwriting device works because it conveys how taxing a toxic relationship can be. Selena delivers a calm and confident vocal performance that reaches intense and short bursts of emotion which drive the song home. "Lose You to Love Me" is easily one of Selena's best tracks. It feels vulnerable and authentic. What more could we ask for?
The second new track, "Look At Her Now" is a sort of futuristic pop track that is initially a bit jarring, but ultimately very rewarding. The track is built around a stuttering bass line that slowly builds its way toward an expertly layered final chorus and outro. Every new section of the song builds on the sparse foundation set by the first verse and chorus. The most exciting part of the song, however, are the drums in the bridge; they add a muted intensity that eventually explodes in the final 45 seconds. "Look At Her Now" doesn't really sound like anything on the radio right now, and the wordless refrain in the hook is insanely catchy. Like "Lose You to Love Me," lyrically, "Look At Her Now" is an empowering song about life after a failed relationship. Nonetheless, "Look" relies heavily on its production and structure to captivate the listeners attention, whereas "Lose" makes an impact with just its lyrics and melody. In a thematic sense, the songs function as two halves of one cohesive unit; think of them as a double A-Side of growth and empowerment. Both tracks impress in different ways and show different sides of Selena from a sonic and lyrical standpoint. This was a flawless musical comeback, now let's see how the album stacks up!
Lose You To Love Me: 80
Look At Her Now: 77
