I Said I Love You First...
The fourth album from Selena Gomez—the 32-year-old multi-hyphenate who needs no introduction, having been famous for approximately two-thirds of her life—doubles as her first album with her fiancé, benny blanco, who has produced and written more hit singles than you’ve had hot dinners. (It’s blanco’s third album, following 2018’s feature-happy *Friends Keep Secrets* and its 2021 sequel.) The 14-track collaboration, which the pair announced shortly after their late-2024 engagement, seemed to come together much like their relationship—comfortably, without being planned or forced. “This was just an idea that started in our bedroom—like, ‘Let’s just make something fun,’” blanco tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, describing the ease with which the songs unfolded, often collaborating with songwriters (Julia Michaels, Justin Tranter) whose relationships with both Gomez and blanco went back years. “Everything felt right. It almost felt too good.” Written and recorded mostly at blanco’s house, *I Said I Love You First* shows the power couple’s love story through a wide-angle lens, zooming out to include past heartbreaks, mistakes, and self-doubts. On “Younger and Hotter Than Me,” Gomez strikes a Lana-esque chord between vulnerable and withering, sniping gently at an old fling: “We’re not getting any younger/But your girlfriends seem to.” Meanwhile, blanco sets the tone at “dynamically moody” with ’80s synth-pop beats ideal for crying on the dance floor, or for highlighting Gomez’s legacy as one of modern pop’s iconic Sad Girls. Here, she sings in Spanish on the slow-burning “Ojos Tristes,” leaves ill-considered voicemails with Gracie Abrams on “Call Me When You Break Up,” and pulls off a respectfully bratty Charli xcx impression on “Bluest Flame.” Potential sappiness is countered by tongue-in-cheek humor: On the entendre-heavy “Sunset Blvd,” the couple embrace naked on a Hollywood street while concerned bystanders call the police. “This whole experience has been cathartic and beautiful,” Gomez says. “And I got to do it with my best friend.”
The collaboration between the singer and her producer fiancé has big romantic appeal but mostly contains serviceable, pastiched pop songs that reveal little about their love story.
Despite the fanfare, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are hesitant to give listeners a glimpse into their lives on ‘I Said I Love You First’.
I Said I Love You First enters with little to say and leaves with no details about who Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are as a duo.
On paper, this shoudn’t work. Pop is littered with saccharine love duets, the charts strewn with mawkish displays of sentimentality. So when news that
Selena Gomez's fourth album zooms out on her celebrity presence, zooms in on her personal life, and hints at happiness and conflict.
The betrothed pop star and pop producer’s PDA pulls in big names including Charli xcx and Gracie Abrams, but it’s strangely anonymous for such a personal project
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco - I Said I Love You First review: A willingness to wear many hats and Benny Blanco's dreamy production help usher in Selena's best project yet.
The Arts Desk’s team of professional critics offer unrivalled review coverage, in-depth interviews and features on popular music, classical, art, theatre, comedy, opera, comedy and dance. Dedicated art form pages, readers’ comments, What’s On and our user-friendly theatre and film recommendations