Revival (Selena Gomez album)
Revival is the second studio album by American singer Selena Gomez. It was released on October 9, 2015, by Interscope Records, her first album released through that label. Preparation for the album began in 2014, when Gomez left her previous label Hollywood Records. The record was influenced by a range of artists, particularly Christina Aguilera and her album Stripped (2002). Gomez co-wrote twelve of its sixteen tracks. The album reflects her journey since 2013, including the media scrutiny surrounding her personal life. As executive producers, Gomez, Danny D and Tim Blacksmith collaborated with Hit-Boy, Rock Mafia, and Stargate to achieve Gomez's new desired sound. Revival is primarily a dance-pop and electropop record, connected by a tropical beach sound, with lyrical themes revolving around love and confidence.
Revival
October 9, 2015
June 2014 – August 2015
- Rokstone and The Hide Out Studios (London, UK)
- Dreamlab, Fonogenic, Magical Thinking and Westlake Studios (Los Angeles, California)
- Downtown Studios (New York City)
- Casa Aramara (Punta Mita, Nayarit, Mexico)
- Interscope, Rock Mafia and Soundbay Studios (Santa Monica, California)
- Maratone and Wolf Cousins Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)
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Upon its release, Revival received positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised its production, lyrical content, and sultry sound. The album was included in several year-end best music lists by publications. Revival debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, marking Gomez's second consecutive number-one album in the United States, following Stars Dance (2013). Elsewhere, the album also charted within the top ten of twenty territories, including Canada, Brazil, France, Mexico and Australia. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting one million album-equivalent units (including albums sales, streaming and track-equivalent units) sold in the United States.
With its singles "Good for You" (featuring rapper ASAP Rocky) and "Same Old Love" both reaching number five and "Hands to Myself" charting at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, Revival is further distinguished as Gomez's first record to house multiple top ten singles in the United States; all of which became her first three number-one singles on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.
To promote the album, Gomez performed the songs in several televised appearances, including The Today Show, the 2015 American Music Awards and the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Furthermore, Gomez embarked on a concert tour, titled Revival Tour in May 2016, which visited North America, Asia and Oceania, before it was canceled in August 2016 following Gomez facing health issues stemming from her lupus diagnosis.[3]
Background[edit]
In July 2013, Gomez released her debut solo album, Stars Dance. The album was well received commercially, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200.[4] Gomez embarked on the Stars Dance Tour later that year, which was set to cross several continents, including dates in Asia and Oceania. These concerts would not materialize as Gomez canceled the remainder of the tour in late 2013, citing personal reasons: "It has become clear to me and those close to me that after many years of putting my work first, I need to spend some time on myself in order to be the best person I can be."[5] Gomez entered a rehab treatment facility for her lupus diagnosis in May 2014.[6][7] Publications began to speculate her intent in fulfilling contractual obligations by releasing a final compilation album for her longtime label, Hollywood Records.[8] Later reports published in September suggested that she had secured a new recording contract with Interscope chairman John Janick.[9] At that time, Gomez had already sold around 2.8 million albums and 18.1 million singles in the United States, including three studio albums with her band Selena Gomez & the Scene.[9]
In November 2014, Gomez captioned an Instagram post with: "As I have a last listen, I thought a lot about my year. I thought a lot about my voice. And after a year of holding on. I think it's time to start sharing."[10] She later released her compilation album For You, representing her final project with Hollywood Records as Gomez officially announced her change in labels the following month.[11] After performing its lead single "The Heart Wants What it Wants" at the 2014 American Music Awards, Gomez revealed that she had begun work on her next studio album.[12] She cited the single as a reference point, stating, "It's exciting for me to start off with something like [it]. And then start leading into writing about all the other things that are going on in my life and have gone on in the past year or so. Even if it's things that people may not necessarily know about. So I'm excited to kind of put more of my heart and soul into the next chapter of music."[13] The same month, Gomez commented that she had been recording new music, and suggested a possible partnership with producer and disc jockey Zedd,[14] On February 23, 2015, a collaboration between Gomez and Zedd titled "I Want You to Know" was released.[15]
Composition[edit]
Music and lyrics[edit]
Musically, Revival is primarily a dance-pop and electropop record with R&B vibes,[42][43][44] which has been also described as "a heady mix of electronic dance music pop".[45] It has a "warm, tropical beach-pop sound",[46] and as noted by AllMusic's Tim Sendra, "[it] veers away from the bubblegum nature of her early work or the genre-hopping aspects of other releases." As he continued, "the album sticks pretty close to a club bangers-and-ballads mix with a couple of R&B-inspired jams thrown in."[47] Other critics also saw that the album has "midtempo pop",[48] minimalist dance beats and smoldering R&B grooves. Steve Knopper of Newsday also highlighted that "[t]he album is frequently dark and ominous, full of torch songs, with just enough stylish electronic dance music synths and upbeat melodies to enliven the mood."[49] Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times and Mike Wass of Idolator both compared it to the works of Janet Jackson, with Wood comparing to her 2015 record, Unbreakable in terms of sound,[50] and Wass to her breakthrough album, Control (1986) in terms of its empowering themes.[51]
Songs and lyrical content[edit]
The album's opening track "Revival" was considered "an experimental electro-adventure" with an "uplifting chorus."[51] Lyrically, the song deals with themes of self-care,[46] embracing one's inner power and self-restoration.[51] It begins with a spoken-word introduction, where she says: "I'm reborn in every moment, so who knows what I'll become?," before singing "It's my time to butterfly," where "the word 'butterfly' serv[es] as both a state of being and an intransitive verb."[52] Gomez also explained that the song gathers everything she was feeling in the two years leading up to the album's release and the need she felt to be heard. The lines, 'I'll admit it's been painful, but I'll be honest and grateful,' is one of her favorites because "ultimately it led me and pushed me to be where I am today. Nothing has been handed to me. I've had to strive for it, and really put my all in it."[53] The second track "Kill Em with Kindness" is described as a dance, club-banger[23] with a "tropical house breeze"[54] and "added bells and whistles".[45] The song offers positive advice for dealing with critics: instead of raising the proverbial middle finger, it suggests to take the high road and kill them with kindness.[51] For Gomez, "[i]t's kind of my motto for life. It's so much easier to be mean. It's so easy to just kind of give yourself that, but it's so hard to walk away from a situation, turn your cheek the other way, and be the bigger person."[53]
"Same Old Love", an electropop and synthpop track[55][56] is built on a "rickety" piano sample and backgrounded Italo synths,[54] starting off with a "whimsical ‘60s feel, but morph[ing] into a punchy bass dance track,"[45] In terms of lyrics, "Same Old Love" is about how people perceive love, and how everyone has a cycle, whether it's friendship, family, a relationship.[53] She further explained it: "People get uncomfortable with change, and they compromise, and I think this song is representing the angst, and the pain, and a little bit of the anger that it comes with."[53] "Hands to Myself" is a dance-pop and synthpop number,[52][51] and has influences of American recording artist Prince.[23] It begins stripped-down with a minimal backdrop and a sparse, thumping beat.[57][56][58] This comprises drums, bass, lightly clicking percussion and hand claps.[59] "Hands to Myself" is a flirty and sassy song[46][53] about seduction,[60] "Sober" brings ‘80s "slamming" synthesizers to the fore and "girlie yelps",[45][61] which lyrically regards social awkwardness and how a significant other doesn't know how to love unless alcohol is involved and the recognition that the boundaries in a relationship aren't so great.[23][62][63] "Good for You" is an electro-R&B song,[51] with pendulum-swing rhythm, swirling keyboard atmospherics and affirming ASAP Rocky rap;[49] it also has Gomez "exploring her lower range and playing up the smokier edges of her speaking voice."[64] The lyrics to "Good for You" explore confidence,[54] embracing one's sexuality and feeling comfortable in your own skin.[53] "Camouflage" is a piano-driven ballad,[54] that addresses the end of a relationship, and even though she has 'so much shit' to say, she doesn't know how since the person that she was with is no longer recognizable."[65]
"Me & the Rhythm" is a dance,[47] disco, and "breathy" synthpop song,[48] with an "icy" Scandinavian arrangement,[51] while the trance-inspired[45] The song talks about losing yourself on the dance floor,[46] while being free within that moment, being free within yourself.[53] while "Outta My Hands (Loco)" was compared to her earlier albums, Stars Dance (2013) and When the Sun Goes Down (2011).[51] "Survivors", as emphasized by Gomez, talks about "surviving every day, in our circumstances [...] and bringing each other up instead of tearing each other down, ’cause we're all just surviving."[66] She completed: "'Survivors' is a community thing ... What's mine is yours. It's us. It's ours together."[53] "Body Heat" brings Latin fusion with saxophone, horns and brass,[45][46][51] and was inspired by Mexican culture,[53] its lyrics regards sex,[51][63] while "Rise" is "an empowerment anthem encouraging perseverance and determination in tough moments."[51] On the other hand, "Rise" contains a gospel chorus, whooping and a spoken-word prayer.[49] "Me & My Girls" was considered a "party-jam",[51] with a "Robert Rodriguez inspired sound,"[48] the song incorporates themes of female empowerment.[51] "Nobody" has syncopated beats, finger snaps, it also contains a synth flute and trip hop beats,[52][43][62] its lyrics and finds the singer paying tribute to her lover,[51] and as she claimed, it was written about her faith and connection with God,[53] "Perfect" is about "feeling downright obsessive as she wrestles with her man moving on to the next one,"[51] and Gomez admitted that the song is "very, very personal song, and it was extremely accurate. [...] In a way, it's a little sad. It's beautiful too."[53] Musically, the song is a modern R&B performance[42] that has a "dreamy, harp-smattered production."[51] The last track from deluxe version of Revival is "Cologne", the song has a "mellow, midtempo" vibe.[51] and talks about "constantly having a certain someone on her mind, and loving herself when they are not around."[65]
Singles[edit]
"Good for You" was released as the album's lead single on June 22, 2015.[67][68][69] Gomez created anticipation for the release of the single by posting several teasers of the song on Instagram. The song was released to warm critical reception. It debuted at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her third top 10 song on the chart and her highest charting debut.[70] "Good for You" has reached number five on the chart,[71] becoming her highest-charting single at the time. It sold 179,000 downloads in its first week, marking the first time Gomez topped the Digital Songs chart, and becoming her highest first-week sales of any of her songs.[70] The song's video was released on June 26, 2015. In conclusion, the song also topped the US Mainstream Top 40 chart in September 2015,[72] reached the top-ten in five countries and top-twenty in other four.[73]
In early August, Billboard confirmed "Same Old Love" as the second single from the album. On August 5, 2015, Gomez was at the first day of iHeartMedia's Music Summit where she played the song.[74][75] The song was made available for digital download with the pre-order of the album on September 10.[76] The music video was shot in downtown Los Angeles on August 15 and part of it was shot at the Revival event. Fans from the event appeared at the end of the video. The music video was released to Apple Music on September 22,[77] and to Vevo on October 7, 2015.[78] The song has peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five, thus tying with "Good for You" to become her highest-charting single,[79] and has become her second number one on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.[80] Elsewhere, it reached the top-ten in Canada and top-forty in five countries.[81]
In early October, during an interview with USA Today, Gomez admitted her desire to release "Sober" as a single from Revival "at some point".[82] On October 2, Gomez released "Me & the Rhythm" as a promotional single.[83] It reached number fifty-seven on the Canadian Hot 100.[84]
"Hands to Myself" was serviced to contemporary hit radio as the third single from Revival in the US on January 26, 2016.[85][86] The music video premiered as an Apple Music exclusive on December 21, 2015,[87] and was released on Vevo on January 20, 2016.[88] The song has reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[89] Internationally, it has reached number five in New Zealand and number nine in Slovakia, as well as the top 40 in several other countries, such as Australia and Czech Republic.[90]
In March 2016, Gomez confirmed "Kill Em with Kindness" as the fourth and final single from the album. It peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song's accompanying music video was released on June 6, 2016.[91] It was sent to contemporary hit radio on May 3, 2016.[92]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United States, Revival debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, earning 117,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, of which 86,000 were pure album sales.[127] It also gave her highest first week sales as of October 2015, surpassing her previous album. In its second week on the chart, Revival fell to number seven.[128] As of January 2020, the album has sold over 435,000 copies in the US. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA, for combined album sales, on-demand audio, video streams and track-sale equivalent of 1,000,000 units.[129]
The album entered the New Zealand Albums Chart at number two, giving Gomez her second solo top ten album and highest-charting release.[130] In Australia, the album debuted at number three, becoming her highest album on the chart and second to debut inside the top-ten.[131] In Greece, the album debuted at number one,[132] while in Brazil it reached number three,[133] receiving a platinum certification in the latter for selling over 40,000 copies.[134] The album also reached the top-ten in other 17 countries, including Canada,[135] France,[136] Ireland,[137] Netherlands,[138] and Sweden.[139]