Is Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's new album good?

The album cover for I Said I Love You First

            Selena Gomez released a joint album, I Said I Love You First, with her fiancé, Benny Blanco, on March 21. The two have been engaged since December but have been especially publicly lovestruck since the album announcement and release.

            This relationship has received an unusual amount of hate from the media. This isn’t entirely surprising, considering the media’s tendency to hate on Gomez for no reason whatsoever. The promotion materials have admittedly been the slightest bit cringey, but upon listening to the album, it’s important to remind people why Gomez and Blanco are famous. They’re both really good at what they do.

            I Said I Love You First opens heartwarming with the title track. It’s a recording of Gomez crying and gushing gratitude to loved ones. It’s a surprisingly effective opener. “Do You Wanna Be Perfect”, near the end of the record, is also a spoken word track, tearing down unrealistic beauty standards.

             “Younger and Hotter Than Me” is a gorgeous ballad. One line references certain men’s gross dating habits, something I’ve heard lots of female artists rightfully call out in recent years: “We’re not getting any younger, but your girlfriends seem to”.

            “How Does It Feel to Be Forgotten” is just as gut-wrenching. It’s also a little snide with, “You walked in, big-ass grin/talking like we’re friends/honey, what were you thinking?” and the blunt “You’re so embarrassing”. Sonically, it reminds me of some of Lana Del Rey’s early work. As does “You Said You Were Sorry”.

            “Don’t Take It Personally” closes out the sad songs of the album. It makes me think of “Feel It Twice”, off Camila Cabello’s 2019 album Romance.

            “Call Me When You Break Up (with Gracie Abrams)” chimes in Gomez’s classic upbeat sound. “Don’t Wanna Cry” continues this pattern, with a sound more like that of “The Heart Wants What It Wants” (2014).

            Gomez’s last project was a Spanish EP titled Revelación (2021), and it makes me happy to see that she’s continued leaning into her Latina heritage with “Ojos Tristes”. The synth pop track is gorgeous. “I Can’t Get Enough” similarly has a Spanish rap verse performed by J Balvin.

            There were three tracks I didn’t enjoy as much, though none were completely bad. First is “Sunset Blvd”, which I dislike purely because of the pre-chorus, “I can’t wait to hold it, to hold that big, big hard heart”. Gomez’s voice wraps around the “ar” sound in an unflattering way. “Cowboy”, immediately following, reminds me of poetry. You’re only going to like it if you let yourself. “Bluest Flame” reminds me of Musical.ly-style dance videos. It was produced electronically and would have been popular in summer 2016.

            The album closes with the gorgeous lead single, “Scared of Loving You”. It feels like a lullaby, which I think is the perfect ending. However, I think milking “I Can’t Get Enough” for its features would’ve been smarter when choosing a lead single.

            You can stream I Said I Love You First on all platforms now.