Album Review: Selena Gomez and Girl in Red

Samantha Clinton, Staff Writer

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  • Girl in Red’s album cover for ‘if i could go quiet’ painted by @fwsorenson.

  • Selena Gomez’s music video for ‘De Una Vez’ is available on Youtube

Selena Gomez: ‘Revelación’

On March 12, 2021, Selena Gomez released her first-ever Spanish language EP called ‘Revelación’. Working diligently, Gomez constructed this album as both a tribute to her Latin American roots and as a way of defining and further expressing her identity. 

For a while now, Gomez has struggled with her mental health, and the pandemic has only worsened this state. She grappled with anxiety, depression, and most recently she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 

Taking refuge with her grandparents and her best friends, she began transforming her house into an office space, a television set, and a recording studio, which led to this album. She found that embracing her Mexican heritage was a source of healing for her. 

And when seeing and hearing the hateful language that was used towards her Spanish community, she took this as an opportunity to start something new and to try and make connections.

“Maybe embracing that part of me can be a source of healing for somebody else,” said Selena Gomez.

In my opinion, the EP gave me mixed feelings. When I first listened to “De Una Vez”, I had decently high expectations, but unfortunately, it didn’t get much better from there. All of the lyrics are pretty basic, and there is little depth in them. However, the songs are very upbeat and catchy, and when accompanied by the music videos, they are far from being boring. 

The songs focus on finding love and finding meaning, and above all, overcoming insecurities that stand in the way. Even though the songs weren’t too profound, they share good meanings and advice. 

If you’re looking for something exciting and uplifting, I definitely recommend that you listen to this seven-song EP and watch the music videos along with them. 

Girl in Red: ‘if i could make it go quiet’

Girl in Red’s debut album, ‘if i could make it go quiet’, has shown nothing but promise so far. Although only 3 of the 11 tracks have been released, I can assure you that there won’t be any letdowns.

The album was self-written by Girl in Red and co-produced by Matias Tellez. “Serotonin”, which was released on March 3rd, was additionally co-produced by Billie Eilish’s brother, Finneas.  

To keep it simple, nothing is off-limits in this album. Focusing on mental health and what it’s like to be human, Girl in Red dives into the deep end to give us songs that tell us the hard truth. 

“Serotonin” is one of a kind. If you were to take multiple music genres and jumble them together, you’d think that it would go badly, but Girl in Red made it work. The song itself deals with intrusive thoughts and her struggle to find happiness and doesn’t sugarcoat anything. 

As for “midnight love” and “rue”, the other pre-released songs in this album, they discuss feelings of insignificance, lust, and the need to escape. The authenticity of these 3 songs pulls you in as you listen and the quality and production never fail, as always.

If you’re the type of person who enjoys authenticity in songs as well as songs with dark themes, this album is definitely for you. Even if that’s not your preferred music genre, I strongly recommend that you check out these beautifully developed songs and the full album release on April 30th, 2021.