If you’ve been spared from the recent flood of Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco press appearances, then you’ve likely missed the release of their new album “I Said I Love You First.” With a run time of almost 35 minutes, the record is a dull, shockingly juvenile attempt at what could have been a heartfelt collaboration.
One of the album’s largest shortcomings is captured in the interlude “Do You Wanna Be Perfect.” On the track, a synthetic-sounding voice pitches a product capable of making the listener “perfect” and “sexy.” It’s interrupted, however, by Gomez reminding the listener to “Actually, just be exactly who you are / There’s literally no one like you.” Platitudes like this — which once felt earnest on Gomez’s 2011 song “Who Says” — ring hollow on an album devoid of any tangible heart. Instead of standing out, the message is cheapened by its arbitrary placement near the end of the tracklist.
These issues strike at the core of why “I Said I Love You First” is unmemorable. The lack of cohesion in both sound and content dampens most of the songs’ ability to truly hit home for listeners.
“I Said I Love You First” is the album’s opening interlude, featuring a tearful speech by the young Gomez to the cast and crew of “Wizards of Waverly Place” on her last day on set.
“It was the best day of my life,” Gomez says on “I Said I Love You First – Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez,” a version of the album where Gomez shares insider information about the tracks. “That was a promise I had made to my cast and crew that I’d dream and hope that I would make them proud one day,” she added. Opening the album with a throwback reminds listeners — many of whom might have watched Gomez grow up on Disney Channel — why the superstar has occupied such a soft spot within pop culture.
The next song, “Younger and Hotter Than Me,” is more successful and the most gut-wrenching track on the album. Where “Do You Wanna Be Perfect” is eye-roll-inducing, “Younger and Hotter Than Me” picks at a wound all too familiar for people coming of age in the era of social media.
Lyrics like “All of the girls at this party / Are younger and hotter than me / And I hate what I wore / But I hate myself more” capture the feelings of inadequacy that often accompany growing older. Gomez’s voice works alongside masterful production by Blanco and FINNEAS. Deeply intimate, the piano ballad is a strong point that rises above the discordance of the rest of the album.
“Call Me When You Break Up,” featuring Gracie Abrams, is the project’s lead single and was released in February, around a month before the rest of the album. The song is a jaunty, effortless addition to the pop genre. Abrams’s feature, while verbose, brings novelty to the very repetitive lyrics.
The song is followed by Gomez and Blanco’s collaboration with indie pop band The Marías on “Ojos Tristes,” which features a blend of Spanish and English lyrics set to a romantic and lulling melody. “Ojos Tristes” and “Bluest Flame,” Gomez and Blanco’s collaboration with Charli xcx, share the same shortcoming: Gomez and Blanco merely replicate the genres and artists they take inspiration from, completely losing any distinctive essence of their own. “Ojos Tristes” could be taken right out of The Marías’ discography, while “Bluest Flame,” with its contributions from “Brat” mastermind Charli xcx, is a random stab at hyperpop.
“I Can’t Get Enough,” featuring J Balvin and produced by Tainy and Blanco, was previously released in 2019. The song is similarly out of place on the album, a clear marker of the sonic disjunction that characterizes the record. Rather than feeling eclectic, “I Said I Love You First” seems to be an inside joke inaccessible to all listeners except Blanco and Gomez.
Some tracks are more successful. “Don’t Wanna Cry” and “You Said You Were Sorry” have a familiar sound and message, reminiscent of much of Gomez’s early discography. “How Does It Feel To Be Forgotten” demonstrates Gomez’s vocal prowess, which, for much of the album, remains understated. The lyrics are cutting, revealing a maturity within the popstar: “You’re so embarrassin’ / Go cry when no one’s watchin’.”
But this maturity is undercut by the cringe-worthy lyrics on songs like “Sunset Blvd,” the album’s third single. While expressions of intimacy can strengthen the passion of love songs, the lines “But I can’t wait to hold it, to hold that / Big, big / Hard heart” just feel juvenile. “Cowboy,” while brilliantly produced, suffers from the same abrupt turn into sensuality. The album’s songs oscillate too wildly between emotional piano ballads and hedonistic lamentations, furthering the album’s overall identity crisis.
The rest of the songs perpetuate the album’s uninspiring tone. “Don’t Take It Personally” is a bizarre dialogue between Gomez and a former lover’s new girlfriend — poor execution on a concept that lacks invention. “Scared of Loving You,” the album’s lackluster closer, is one of the brief moments when the album clearly centers around Blanco and Gomez. Despite “I Said I Love You First” being advertised as the culmination of Blanco and Gomez’s musical and romantic connection, it features few obvious connections to their relationship.
In an effort to capitalize off of their dynamic relationship, “I Said I Love You First” misses the marks on both cohesion and depth. While Blanco and Gomez are respectively talented, this meeting of their minds fails to impress.
