Since 2016, Selena Gomez has been holding her breath. She’s been waiting for the right time to release a collection of music that captures the tumult of her personal life.
In October, she released the personal single “Lose You to Love Me,” alongside an emotional music video portraying her partaking in a confessional. The day of its release, Gomez exhaled the hurt from her past relationships like a sigh. It was the perfect introduction to her third solo album Rare, released last week.
The 13-track album is a triumphant cry of self-love and growth. While the media was quick to label Gomez as a heartbroken victim during her hiatus from public life, Rare is the public denouncement of this theory. It declares that she’s back–and she’s badder than ever.
Gomez ends a toxic relationship in “Cut You Off,” declaring she will “chop off all that extra weight I’ve been carrying fourteen-hundred sixty-five days.” She celebrates her growth in “Look At Her Now,” cooing, “of course she was sad, but now she’s glad she dodged a bullet.”
“Ring” flaunts a sassy, new-found confidence, proposing “I’m one in a billion baby / Don’t you agree?”
Despite carrying heavier undertones and lyrics deeper than some of her other albums, Rare maintains a delicate and buoyant sound, shrugging off the heaviness of lead single “Lose You to Love Me,” and shimmying into a brand-new era. Songs including “Ring” and “Rare” offer a sultry vocal performance with an audible wink from Gomez. Both perfectly match the album’s calm and unbothered ambience.
Rare explores the inconsistency of self-love and the pain of growing out of relationships that felt like destiny. In 2014, Gomez sang that “the heart wants what it wants.”
In 2020, she sings she has “taken my tired heart and turned it inside out.” This album is not just radio-worthy singles about dancing to the beat of your own drum, it’s about making the difficult decision of choosing to love yourself over somebody else.
There’s something special about watching Gomez emerge from her cocoon. Her music career has certainly hosted the successes of chart-topping singles and radio favourites—but Rare presents a version of Gomez we’ve all been waiting for. It declares despite the drama, despite the rumours, and despite the challenges, she has more to offer the world and she’s not ready to give up.
It’s clear that during her four-year break from music, Gomez was living the highs and lows of every twenty-something learning who they are in the world. She’s learned some lessons, and like her second track declares, “it feels so good to dance again.”
Graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
