“Vulnerable” ponders taking the plunge with someone new to tasteful, muted sonics. As such, Rare is exactly as strong as its punch lines are sharp, as its beats are buoyant.
SELENA GOMEZ REVIVAL ALBUM .RAR SERIES
The result is pure locomotion, a series of two-and-a-half- to three-minute radio killers that shoot first and don’t stick around to ask questions. “Ring” packs a venomous bite into two lines in: “Yeah, I received your message, all 23 / You know I’m Jordan with it, G-O-A-T.” Only one song bothers with a third verse, and only to make space for a short, sweet spot from R&B singer 6LACK. Rare is sleek to a degree that makes 2015’s Revival seem sluggish (in spite of the new one being the slightly longer album, at 41 minutes). Rare dramatizes putting yourself back out there after a rough patch, like Usher’s “U Don’t Have to Call.” It’s a whole album’s worth of “I still got it.” Rare, Selena Gomez’s new full-length out today, follows the lead of the second song. (For the excoriating honesty in the lyrics and her monastic choral vocals, Gomez ultimately earned her first Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, and later a spot on Vulture’s list of the best songs of the year.) A day later, the passive-aggressive dance-pop jam “Look at Her Now” pushed the dial back to breakup shade. “Lose You” is assertive without being accusatory, the kind of reflexive breakup song that resonates whether you did dirt or had dirt done to you.
It’s a song about learning to stand up for yourself, about avoiding situations that make you feel like a supporting character in your own story, about reaching the epiphany that your own healing and happiness are just as important as everyone else’s. This past fall, “ Lose You to Love Me” struck a stately balance between the singer’s journey to wellness and the drama in her press clippings.
SELENA GOMEZ REVIVAL ALBUM .RAR FULL
It’s apparent now that she was trying to get to a place of stability before pulling the trigger on another full album statement. The trickle of singles released in this stretch - the Talking Heads flip “Bad Liar,” the Gucci Mane collaboration “Fetish,” the reggaeton hit “I Can’t Get Enough,” and the folk-pop jams “It Ain’t Me” and “Wolves” - suggested tantalizing new directions and then sped off as soon as they started to stick.
(Imagine going through a split and having your ex release “Call Out My Name,” “Where Are Ü Now,” or “Love Yourself.”) The singer eventually spent time in rehab facilities to work through depression and anxiety. There were makeups and breakups with high-profile exes Justin Bieber and the Weeknd, whose Purpose and My Dear Melancholy albums both contained songs that appeared to reference their time with Gomez. Gomez has fought a battle with lupus that led to intensive therapy, kidney transplant surgery, and cruel internet speculation about fluctuations in her weight.
The path to Selena Gomez’s third album has been beset on all sides by hardships. Rare is sleek to a degree that makes 2015’s Revival seem sluggish
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