★★★★

It’s hard to believe it has been five years since Selena Gomez released ‘Revival’, the mature second album which cemented the singer as a serious female pop force people should be paying attention to. However since then, like a cyclone ripping through her life everything started to go wrong, everything from personal relationships to serious health issues. Fast forward to 2020 and ‘Rare’ sees Gomez rise like a phoenix from the ashes, confident, in control and creating the most cohesive and exciting record of her career.

The opener, title track ’Rare’, is an immediate indication of a sharper and more interesting direction from the star. an honest, spritely track with an unusual rhythm that feels like a natural-born fit for Gomez’s naturally smokey and wistful vocal tones. It’s certainly an earworm… even if I’m still debating whether I can forgive the criminally awful lyric ‘Burning toast in my toaster’.

Lead single ‘Lose You To Love Me’ is the emotional heartbeat of the record, with assistance from FINNEAS (of the Eilish family). With it Gomez has crafted the most personal song of her career, it's not hard to see why the track skyrocketed up the charts to become her first No.1, laden with metaphors and messages within its lyrics alluding to her highly publicised split from ex-beau Justin Bieber. It won’t be the gossip and romance that catches your ear however, it’ll be the soaring melodies and incredible production that’ll keep you pressing repeat on the incredible power ballad.

It’ll be interesting to see how much of the record holds up in a few years, it feels very present and of the moment, influenced by many elements of modern late 10’s Pop. For example, ‘Ring’ takes heavy inspiration from Camila Cabello’s ‘Havana’, Its fair enough that If you’re going to take aspects and melodies from any song, make it one of the biggest hits of the last few years, yet this lack of originality is a prevailing worry throughout.

What is certain, however, is that ‘Rare’ is an incredibly cohesive album, moving at a swift pace, flowing from one captivating sublime piece of pop to the next. In fact, the record is packed full of killer pop hits, whether that be the futuristic ‘People You Know’ in which Gomez delivers a robotic chorus line which literally symbolises the distance created between relationships as you lose that ‘human’ connection. Also impressing is the velvety smooth ‘Cut You Off’ with it’s luscious harmonic ‘oohs’ and razor-sharp verse delivery. 

There are also a couple of sharply contrasting collaborations ‘Crowded Room’ with 6LACK is one of the moments only dips in quality, forgettable and unable to merge the two artists vastly different worlds and styles, failing to thrill. The track is a drastic opposition to the fantastic ‘A Sweeter Place’ with Kid Cudi which closes out the record. the track utilises Auto-tune in a minimal and Intelligent method as the dark and shifting production keeps you guessing which direction the track will take next. Cudi provides a star turn and a more natural fit for Gomez’s own brand of dark Pop.

As I finish the record for the fourth time I’m still left with a few lingering doubts such as the lasting appeal of the songs other then ‘Lose You’ as well as if perhaps Gomez has missed an opportunity for an in-depth personal self-examination rather than the heavy amount of buzz words and cliches scattered throughout. Is it bold enough? only time will tell, but one thing I’m sure of is that ‘Rare’ is an incredible comeback Pop record from one of the genre’s still most overlooked Queens.