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Selena Gomezapproaches pop with patience.
The new albumdoesnt want to be as steeped in health and relationship trauma.
ButLove You Firsts quest for freedom is often undercut by pastiche and pulled punches.
Selena first met Benny Blanco more than a decade ago.
Their creative chemistry is just as well-documented.
YetLove You Firstoften soundslike its dishing about couples drama it doesnt care to commit to.
The patchwork personaLove You Firstpresents instead is still somewhat concerned with audience perceptions and mainstream trends.
After following Charli XCX up the pitch-corrected runs of Bluest Flame, she disappears intoUltraviolence-core with Forgotten.
Benny Blanco is a malleable producer who could make whatever you wanted.
Its like Gomez is coaxing out this stormy quietude, softening other players instincts.
Noisenik beatmakers Dylan Brady a gec!
andCashmere Catare barely noticeable in this albums muted touch.
The variety here is further hamstrung by a vocal approach dominated by a directness that can ping as simplicity.
Fascinating and successful music has been made from this vantage point.
This double-billed couples album is more interested in throwing you off the lovers trail than letting you in.
