Album Review: Selena Gomez – For You
4 min read
American singer/actress Selena Gomez has had a stellar beginning to what may be a lifelong career, whether that be in music or on the screen, or even both. We know her best as being one of the Disney girls-gone-singers, joining the likes of Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus and more following the road down to mainstream pop; Selena formed her group, Selena Gomez & The Scene, back in 2009 and the hits have been rolling through; Kiss and Tell, A Year Without Rain and When The Sun Goes Down hit shelves respectively before the group went on a hiatus, leaving Selena to release her debut solo album Stars Dance, which took out the number one position on the Billboard 200 in 2013. The singer has releasing her first compilation album For You, she stresses it’s not a greatest hits album but more of a collection of her singles, it’s basically the release that would free her from her contract with Hollywood Records; she will be making the move to Interscope for all future releases. For You features singles from Selena Gomez & The Scene and the handful she released solo, two new tracks were recorded to support the album.
Selena’s new single The Heart Wants What It Wants kicks off the collection, it’s a smooth dose of pop with a second guessing love storyline, could this be about ex-beau Justin Bieber? Following closely behind is the tabla/electro pop infusion Come & Get It, produced by Stargate and became Gomez’s first solo single to hit the Top 10 of the Hot 100 in the US; next up was Selena Gomez & The Scene’s highest selling single to date, Love You Like A Like A Love Song, which is as repetitively addictive as ever. As well as starring in the film Another Cinderella Story, Selena recorded the single Tell Me Something I Don’t Know for its soundtrack, it’s a pop savvy track that has that Gomez attitude; the airy and uplifting Who Says gets a spin, it’s refreshing to hear a track not so driven by electronic influence, it’s definitely one of her catchier numbers. Gomez revamps My Dilemma from the When The Sun Goes Down album, naming it My Dilemma 2.0, it’s a more upbeat and electronic inspired take on the track; Round and Round served as the lead single on the listing of A Year Without Rain, it doesn’t glow in comparison to her other singles with The Scene.
Forget Forever was taken from her solo album Stars Dance, although it wasn’t released as an official single, it had some slight success in South Korea; it’s possibly one of her deepest endeavours into house/EDM yet. Slow Down was released as a single a mere week after Come & Get It, its slight EDM/dub step influence sparked mixed reviews from critics alike; instead of the original mix of A Year Without Rain, the Dave Aude remix has been included on the compilation, it’s more synth-happy and beat heavy but retains what we admired about the single. Dave Aude’s remix of Naturally also scores a place instead of the original, this version actually makes the track all the more exciting; annoyingly, the Spanish version of More (Mas) was included, a little bit strange considering it wasn’t a single in the first place. A virtual duet of the late Mexican singer Selena’s Bidi Bidi Bom Bom made the listing, an interesting fun fact was that Gomez was named after her, which makes this version of the track all the more special; to wrap up the previous singles, Selena’s first single with The Scenes Falling Down warranted a place, it’s proof that the young starlet is capable of belting out a rock number. Lastly, Do It is the second original track written for the collection, lyrically it’s the most sexually suggestive she’s been.
You have to admit, Selena Gomes has a fair collection of tracks. For You doesn’t just feel like an album released in desperation to leave her label, it’s a compilation made for the fans including her stuff with The Scene and her one solo album. It’s not often an act releases a compilation album a mere five years into their singing career, some may deem it unnecessary, particularly when there were tracks on there that weren’t officially singles; Forget Forever, Mas and Dilemma 2.0 being the filler tracks. Where was the Teen Choice Award nominated single Hit The Lights?? You would have thought it was guaranteed a place in a singles collection considering it was released as one, the choice to include it would have shone over other decisions regarding the track listing. But no matter, all the best for Selena and her move to Interscope, we haven’t heard the last of her singing career yet; For You mostly defines what she’s been about the last few years and we can only expect more.
