After she released one of 2013's best dance-pop albums, "Stars Dance", the road got a little bumpy for Selena Gomez. Or, should we say very bumpy: a stint in rehab after a Lupus diagnosis, tabloid drama over her relationship with Justin Bieber, a few hit-or-miss singles ("I Want You to Know" didn't really live up to expectations, but the R&B-tinged "Good for You" surprisingly turned out to be a big hit for Gomez), all the while balancing her acting career, new management, and a new label. Certainly, Selena Gomez has earned a fresh start (perhaps a vacation as well?), and maybe she's even entitled to name her fifth album "Revival", a choice that carries with it the notion of a new direction, either sonically or lyrically. If you could recall ten years ago when Jennifer Lopez made the same statement by naming her fifth album "Rebirth", it brings a parallel motion into focus: if "Stars Dance" was Gomez's attempt to be "Rihanna", then "Revival" is no doubt her JLO record. The songs, while fashionable and distinctive in their own right, don't aim far beyond middle of the road. The production always hints at creativity and spark, but often submits to the gloss and genericism of modern dance-pop. But unlike JLO, who sounded like she sorta-kinda cared about steering herself towards more unfamiliar territory in "Rebirth", Selena Gomez doesn't muster up the energy to sound half as invested. Since "Revival" is so stubbornly subdued and mannered, any intricacies in the production go by largely unnoticed, while Gomez's vocal performance is mostly ignored in order to emphasize the low hum of the beats beneath patchwork quilts of synths and percussion.
Predictably, "Good for You" is the only track here that strikes the balance between sultry vocals with sexy and subtle production. "Survivors" comes in a close second, benefitting from house and club influences, only without the strong hooks it deserves. "Revival" thankfully only dips below average once as well, on the clumsy and neck-cringing "Hands to Myself", where Max Martin delivers his worst dud since the early days of the teen-pop revival in the 90s. So, Gomez can be proud that she has achieved her most consistent album, but even still, the number of times "Revival" tries to flirt with rebirth ("Rise"), sex ("Good for You"), or relationships ("Camouflage"), is the exact amount of times it fails to cover enough musical ground or lyrical depth in any of those areas ("Revival", "Hands to Myself", and "Sober", respectively). Especially when odd-ball tracks like "Same Old Love" and "Me & The Rhythm" pop in, feeling so slightly out of place, there's no sense of coherency here. Despite the promotion of this record as a personal product of self-love and introspection, "Revival" relies most heavily on its production and style; not necessarily a problem for just any ol' pop record, but on a supposed statement of purpose like this, it's a big issue. Gomez has more writing credits--she even oversaw the album's overall production and direction as well--but she doesn't prove that she consciously knows how to create her own persona outside of Taylor Swift's girl squad or the Radio-Disney tween scene. Even if it's more mature and not as garish as some of her previous work, "Revival" is ultimately weighed down by not letting Gomez be the fun, dynamic character that she so auspiciously wants to be.
Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Revival 2.
Kill ‘Em With Kindness 3. Hands to
Myself
4. Same Old
Love 5. Sober 6. Good for You
7. Camouflage 8. Me & The
Rhythm 9. Survivors
10. Body Heat 11. Rise
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