Selena Gomez is scorching with passion for Benny Blanco, and she isn't shy about voicing her affections. Their latest collaborative album, titled "I Said I Love You First," set for release on Friday, finds the pop sensation fervently desiring her music producer fiancé. She sheds her Disney-era innocent image, instead chronicling the couple's nearly two-year love saga with unbridled fervor.
Following a syrupy, heartfelt spoken-word introduction thanking her support system, a pre-Blanco Gomez finds herself heartbroken on "Young and Hotter Than Me," a soulful, Lana Del Rey-inspired piano ballad about a cheating ex she wishes she'd "never loved" (a subtle nod to Justin Bieber). Yet, fate has its way, and Gomez, now 32, finds herself entangled in a final, passionate encounter with her former beau on the mesmerizing, mostly Spanish-language track "Ojos Tristes" before Blanco, 37, enters her life.
"Now I found another hand to hold," she proudly declares on the bouncy, upbeat "Don't Wanna Cry," a standout track in her career and an early contender for summer anthem status. Gomez and Blanco's chemistry ignites swiftly, with the playful "Sunset Blvd" documenting their steamy first date.
"I can't wait to hold it, to hold that / Big, big / Hard…," she chants, building suspense before finally shouting, "Heart!" (Thankfully.) Clearly, the date was a success, as Gomez becomes even more daring with Blanco on "Cowboy," a breathy, suggestive tune about riding him with abandon, and "Bluest Flame," an overly AutoTuned, Charli XCX-influenced medley where the lovebirds "go all night."
Gomez finds Blanco so irresistibly charming that she claims to have effortlessly erased any lingering memories of her "embarrassing" past loves on the searing, slow-burning "How Does It Feel to Be Forgotten." By "I Can't Get Enough," the pair is so deeply enthralled with each other that they feel like the only two people in the world (and perhaps the only two who can tolerate the song's maddeningly catchy hook).
"I Said I Love You First" allows Gomez, who last released an album in 2020, to reclaim her throne as a pop princess, while Blanco stays in the background, lending his talented but occasionally chaotic production to the project. The Grammy nominees conclude the album with a heartfelt, vulnerable note, with Gomez confessing to Blanco on the voicemail-inspired "Scared of Loving You" that breaking up would shatter her.
It seems fate has indeed brought these two together, perfect for each other in every way.
