Selena Gomez has announced a new collaborative album and a new single with “best friend” and fiancé Benny Blanco on Thursday.
The Emilia Pérez star shared the news on her Instagram, writing: “I always trick you guys. My new album I Said I Love You First with my best friend Benny Blanco, is out on 3/21. Our first song, ‘Scared of Loving You’ is out now on all streaming platforms.”
“We can’t wait to share this special project with you soon!”
Blanco, an 11-time Grammy nominee, also shared the news of the album on his own social media, and made a post himself with videos from the couple’s album shoot, writing: “I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”
According to a press release, the album will celebrate “the pair’s love story”.
“It chronicles their entire story – before they met, falling in love and looking to what the future holds.”
Gomez and Blanco first worked together in 2015, when Blanco co-produced two songs in Gomez’s second album Revival. The two collaborated together again in 2019 for “I Can't Get Enough” with Tainy and J Balvin.
The “Fetish” singer confirmed their relationship publicly in 2023, and got engaged the following year in December.
The couple faced criticism online after their relationship was confirmed, with Gomez’s fans claiming that he was “unworthy” of her. However, the “Wolves” singer didn’t hesitate to hit back.
“I don’t understand,” she wrote in response. “If you actually care about me. This is my happiest. If you don’t feel free to say whatever you want. But I will never allow your words to guide my life. Ever. I’m done. If you can’t accept me at my happiest then don’t be in [my] life at all.”
In an October interview with Vanity Fair, Gomez called Blanco her “best friend” and “light”.
“I’ve never been loved this way,” she explained. “He’s just been a light. A complete light in my life. He’s my best friend. I love telling him everything.”
The album marks Gomez’s return to music just after her starring role in the multiple Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez, which is currently embroiled in controversy following resurfaced social media posts by lead actor Karla Sofía Gascón.
Her last studio album was 2020’s Rare, and gave Gomez her first-ever No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lose You to Love Me”. This was followed by her Spanish-language EP, Revelación in 2021.
Gomez has previously hinted she may retire from music as people “don’t necessarily take [her] seriously”.
“It’s hard to keep doing music when people don’t necessarily take you seriously,” Gomez said in a 2021 interview with Vogue Magazine. “I’ve had moments where I’ve been like, ‘What’s the point? Why do I keep doing this?’”
“I think there are a lot of people who enjoy my music, and for that I’m so thankful, for that I keep going, but I think the next time I do an album it’ll be different,” she explained. “I want to give it one last try before I maybe retire music.”
A couple of years later, Gomez echoed the same, saying that she felt like she had “one more album in me,” but would prefer acting over a career in music.
“I started having a lot of fun with music and then touring was really fun,” Gomez said on the SmartLess podcast in January 2024. “But I was doing my TV show [Wizards of Waverly Place] at the same time and I just found it really fun so I just kept going. But the older I get, the more I’m kind of like, ‘I would like to find something to just settle on.’”
“I do feel like I have one more album in me, but I would probably choose acting.”
