Sometimes I’m sure people wonder, and I’ve been asked before, “Why do you bother to review that teeny crap?”
I review music meant for a slightly younger audience for several reasons. First of all, the younger demographic is where an enormous slice of music sales are found, so that’s where a ton of industry marketing is geared. To understand music and where it’s going, it’s important to understand how record companies are trying to appeal to the crowd that’s actually purchasing music (like, y’know, with money and stuff). Secondly, if I were to dismiss these younger, up-and-coming stars—wouldn’t I be just as ageist as the Baby Boomers we Millennials love to complain about so much? And third, I think young, female artists suffer a tremendously unfair bias in the world of music criticism; I think it’s very hard to find objective reviews of young artists, especially young women, that don’t twist and manipulate their public image in the writing and somehow let that color the music. (Not to mention our severe issue as a society with infantilizing female musicians and robbing them of their own agency and discrediting their capability and intelligence.) So I try to give everything a fair shot, former Disney star or not.
That being said, I’ve followed the career of Selena Gomez—and her contemporaries Demi Lovato and, of course, Miley Cyrus—for years now, because I knew this day would come: The day when our beloved ladies of the generation before would begin to mature, have families, have lives and projects outside of just their young-and-hungry domination of radio. The three former Disney Channel darlings are all arguably poised to be the next generation’s true pop stars, each positioned for megastardom with their various platforms for massive exposure.
Enter ‘Stars Dance.’ I have each of Gomez’s albums, and I will say this: among them are glittering dance-pop gems like “Naturally” and “Love You Like A Love Song,” but nothing she’s done to date has come close to measuring up to her new record.
Like Gomez’s blossoming sense of style, her sound on ‘Stars Dance’ is sexy but never vulgar, trendy but not necessarily avant garde, capable of pleasant surprises that thrill but consistently reliable for something that works. Musically, the album is an amalgam of electronic influences from an array of dance genres from the past twenty years, all diluted down to their descendant incarnations in the high-charged, club-ready sound so prevalent in mainstream music in the last half of the last decade. In short: it’s a highly referential record with obvious influences (most notably Britney Spears, whom Gomez has cited many times as an idol; and the industry’s resident bad girl Rihanna, for whom platinum-selling lead single “Come & Get It” was penned), but also a record that really comes together to impress with her sense of studio savvy. Musically speaking, she’s the friend that tries on your dress—and somehow just looks better in it than you do.
Much like Britney, Selena Gomez is somewhat limited in terms of the technical ability of her voice—but also like Britney, she’s an incredible vocal actress, capable of adapting to a huge array of sounds and styles that makes her superbly suited for recording pop music (which I believe, despite what anyone tells you, is the most inventive genre of music due to its turnover rate and tendency to change tastes overnight). She’s the Hilary Duff of her generation: A consummate chameleon, trying a bit of everything and succeeding at it all.
Here are some of my favorites from the album:
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The bratty “Birthday” opens the album—and the moans sure let you know Miss Gomez is growing up about 20 seconds into the track. Thankfully, it doesn’t get too try-hard; Gomez’s naughty side is always cleverly counterbalanced with the song’s Ke$ha chant-sing sound that’s reminiscent of a cheer competition or a sleepover. It’s silly, but it’s fun and a perfect introduction to an album that’s intended to make a statement about becoming a young woman without abandoning the girly, flirty nature that seems to be an authentic element of Gomez’s persona.
[divider] [/divider]‘Stars Dance’ is available on iTunes now.
I’ve been waiting for months to hear this song, mostly out of sheer curiosity (I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how the album title was going to be incorporated into a song). Gomez dubbed this track the most representative of the album as a whole—and it’s definitely the record’s most intriguing moment. The title track feels like the most forward-thinking offering on the album, with an odd but ethereal sonic quality that’s somewhere between Ellie Goulding and Rihanna.
[divider] [/divider]‘Stars Dance’ is available on iTunes now.
“Music Feels Better” is pure pop bliss. It’s surprisingly reminiscent of Carly Rae Jepsen‘s ‘Kiss‘ (another sampling of triumphantly joyful pop, and one of the better “bubblegum” albums in years), but in the best possible way. The hook is k-i-l-l-e-r, and the breakdown is everything pop music is about, with the ultimately satisfying drop-and-build combo that the replay button was made for.
[divider] [/divider]‘Stars Dance’ is available on iTunes now.
“Save The Day” is a club-banger with a big-but-minimal ’90s house sound, repackaged for the modern market. It’s hard not to get lost in any of the track’s many nonsensical quasi-ethnic J. Lo-style chants, but what makes it really work is Gomez’s authenticity—it’s much easier to sell music meant for the club when you’re the age of the club-going crowd.
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Aside from the huge success of “Come & Get It”, “Slow Down”—both the song and the stunning Selena-centric video above—is Gomez’s “a-ha!” moment as a pop artist. It’s sexy and sleek without getting too artsy, and it’s got a killer hook that won’t let the chorus escape your mind.
And damn, girl—dat dance break!
[divider] [/divider]‘Stars Dance’ is available on iTunes now.
“Undercover” is one of the album’s sexiest moments. The counterplay between lyrics about feeling like a homecoming queen with Gomez’s masterfully seductive “ooh-uh-ooh-uh-ooh-ooh” is utterly satisfying; this is a song to get lost in on the dancefloor, designed specifically for those so-bad-but-it-feels-so-good moments in the dark.
[divider] [/divider]‘Stars Dance’ is available on iTunes now.
Naturally, “Love Will Remember” has been widely touted as the goodbye-to-Bieber track. Admittedly, it’s slightly on the juvenile side—but that’s kind of what helps make it work so well. Regardless of how personal the song may or may not be, Gomez’s goodbye isn’t an easy one; the cut packs a surprisingly emotional punch and grounds the record as its emotional center, the genuine sadness buried in the pile of whatever-let’s-dance attitude often meant to bury that exact melancholy.
[divider] [/divider]Sadly, speaking of goodbyes, Gomez has announced this record will be her last—at least for quite some time. She revealed to Ryan Seacrest in her sit-down E! special that her plan is to focus on her film career (which is probably a smart move, following the tremendous success of the wildly controversial and, in my opinion, brilliant ‘Spring Breakers‘). Still, she’s one of the most promising pop stars in the game, so here’s to hoping she gets the itch to get back in the studio before too long.
In a nutshell: ‘Stars Dance’ is solid, fun, of-the-moment dance-pop. More than anything, Gomez (and her successful, steady career trajectory, wherever it takes her) continues to stand as a testament that sometimes you can really get the whole “growing up famous” thing right.
[divider] [/divider]Austin is a Literally, Darling editor and writer of Aural Fixation, LD’s weekly music column.
If you made it through this whole review, you probably really like pop music,
so follow him on Twitter @Litzwich.
