Edward Russell
Like many, I’m not very keen on the “child actor turned singer” thing. Sure, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato did it and were huge successes, but they both cracked at some point. I think that Miley’s still in the process of cracking, but if what we’ve seen from the 2015 VMA’s is any inclination, she should be hitting rock bottom any day now. But looking at other child stars such as Hilary duff, who has had quite a few albums released, the stream of quality is still the same: bubblegum pop flooded with auto-tune.
That’s why I was a little anxious when I saw Selena Gomez’s new single on iTunes. Entitled “Good For You”, this A$AP Rocky featured song was topping the charts and out of curiosity, I gave it a listen. To say that my expectations were exceeded would be an understatement. The rawness of her voice, the slight pitched nature to it that just worked in a weird way, the production that was minimalist but still complex enough to not sound like a loop. All of this combined into one jam-packed single that was built to see fame.
“Good for You” was a great start. Selena’s most recent album, the electro-pop Stars Dance, wasn’t a complete disappointment, but it had more flaws than it did successes. I don’t consider her album For You a recent release because it was basically a Greatest Hits playlist with one new song: “The Heart Wants What It Wants. Which is an incredible song, by the way. But personally, I think that was still the previous Selena Gomez. “The Heart Wants” is still the child star coming out of her Disney fame and into the adult music world.
“Good for You” is that first step into adulthood. And boy, is it done gracefully. The video speaks for this, showing Selena in a way that we’ve never seen her: bare. The makeup is minimal, the clothing stripped back. She’s even in just a t-shirt, lounging on a stool in a spacious shower. This isn’t the wizard from Waverly Place that we know her so well as. This isn’t some child star. This a woman, showing her sexuality in a pulled back, classy way.
Her new album, Revival, is now available for preorder and I am ready for it. Set to be released on October 9, 2015, I believe we will see a new Selena Gomez. She’s completely transformed into an adult, the final metamorphosis that will take away the young child that we saw on our televisions. The second single, dubbed “Same Old Love”, is another classy, intimate, sexy song with minimalist production. She’s doing this thing with her voice where she’s straining it, adding this pitchy essence to it that she hasn’t ever had before in her music. It sounds like she’s come to know her voice and exactly how she can make it work.
The album artwork for the Deluxe Version of Revival has Selena completely bare, filtered black and white. She has this emotionless stare toward the camera, pulling us in. This leaves us with many questions. What is the emotion of this album? Who is this new Selena, and will we see some of that bubblegum pop in the rest of the album?
One thing is for sure. Selena Gomez, whether you like it or not, has been revived and she’s ready to come for her spot at the top of the charts.
Here’s the tracklist for the Deluxe Version of Revival, due out on October 9, 2015.
• Revival
• Kill Em With Kindness
• Hands To Myself
• Same Old Love
• Sober
• Good For You (feat. A$AP Rocky)
• Camouflage
• Me & The Rhythm
• Survivors
• Body Heat
• Rise
Deluxe Tracks
• Me & My Girls
• Nobody
• Perfect
