How Benny Blanco Helped Selena Gomez Overcome Feeling ＂Stuck Musically＂ ｜ TikTok Radio IRL

Because then we just hear ourselves so beautifully. We kind of do like ASMR. We just really want to hear ourselves. We sure do. Also just like I took notes per song. I'm not going to get so into it, don't worry. I'm not trying to be like... No, it's okay. I actually love that. That's really... Thank you. I went to school for musical theatre, so... Really, so many of the things that you were doing in this album spoke to me in such a storytelling way. The orchestrations of it all. My God. I mean, it felt like... It didn't feel like a departure from who you are, but it felt like an enhancement and a growth. Like we're seeing you in such a new light, and also we're hearing the truth that always comes through in your music. Aw, thank you. Which must have been a lot of fun to write with Benny. Completely. I was so stuck musically. I didn't know where I wanted to go with my next album. I knew I wanted to do one, but it was just so wonderful to have him on my team. Like, he did an incredible job, and I respect him so much, and he just has excellent taste, so... A hundred percent. Telling him my stories, and him telling me about his past and his stories, it was really special, so we combined it and made an album. Yeah, it probably must be vulnerable, even though you're in a relationship, it feels like you probably had a lot of vulnerable moments together, yet writing music together probably feels like a whole other step on top of some of the vulnerable steps in a relationship. Totally. It's something a lot of people in relationships never experience, because you guys are doing these unique jobs. Yeah, it's true. And so I feel like it is this fun part of a relationship that maybe even helps you discover new things about each other that you wouldn't have otherwise. It's Benny's confidence, you know? That kind of energy is so addictive to be around, and he just... I don't know, I just love him, that's all. And the world loves him as well. I feel like people now, even though he's been making hits forever... Yeah, since he was like 18. Oh my God, and you look through his roster, and you're like, oh, okay, so you wrote everything, and you were producing everything, so it must have been really fun to do together. Was there one song in particular that you felt like you can remember back? The writing process, the producing of it was just the most fun to do. Ooh, maybe a couple. Scared of Loving You was really adorable, and it wasn't even meant to be like a single or anything. It wasn't, but it just... We were singing it about each other, and it was very honest, so it kind of makes me tear up, even though it's like the cutesy little song. It's so cute. I know. I wrote that it's one of my favorites on the album. Oh, thank you. I mean, what a beautiful way to end it, too. Yes. Stripped back, but also his genius production is still under there. Totally. But it's like, I feel like in that song specifically, we're zoned in on the lyrics and what you're saying, and what a beautiful end to the story that you've told with this album. And that's what I really feel like the album is. It's a full storyline, especially down to the start with that opening track. Did you always know you wanted to start it in that way, in such a vulnerable, beautiful way? Well, no. It was, again, I'm just going to brag about him all the time. Benny saw the video online, and it was the last day I was shooting Wizards, and that was after over 100 episodes with these people that I grew up with. So it was pretty much the beginning for me, and at the same time, I was closing a chapter. So he thought it would be sweet, since Younger and Hotter is a reflection of my past or insecurities. It was really important to him that he tell that story, too. Yeah, it feels like starting with that and then going right into Younger and Hotter, there's so many themes of homecoming in this album that I also feel like homecoming, not necessarily to a place, but to your younger self. Yeah. That's exactly what we wanted, actually, for that song. Well, you sure did it. Well, thank you. And it's woven in throughout the whole thing, and I think it's such a beautiful thing because we have seen you grow up as we've grown up, as consumers as well, and as fans, we've seen you go through such a journey, and then hearing you talk about these things, whether it's returning home and in that first track, talking about the crew of the show, you guys saw me grow up, but then having this nostalgia for even the Younger and Hotter version that we felt of ourselves that existed. Totally, and I think that was the, that was what the message was meant to be, is that every girl, person, human being has felt insecure, and they've been to a house or a party, or, you know, and it's hard. Like, I get very insecure sometimes. I'm not as insecure as I was when I was younger, but, yeah, there's always something shinier, there's always something better, and it doesn't, that's not what I should be thinking about. Yeah, but it's also hard, because in the moment that, the moments that we can look back on now where we can be so either self-critical or yearning for that past, and be like, God, I was so this that I wish I was now. Yet in that moment, we weren't thinking, oh, I'm perfect. Like, oh my God, early 20s? We're not walking around there being like, yeah. We gotta figure it out. Yeah, gotta figure it out. I'm an icon, everything's amazing. And that, I feel like that's such a lovely way to kind of speak about it, because the song and the lyrics talk about something other than you being, someone other than you being younger and hotter, but I still feel the nostalgia that comes through in that song so beautifully, too, which is then fun when we go right into Call Me When You Break Up after, because it's like, and now let's dance, but we're also still doing these emotional themes with, like, Gracie, who, of course, must have been so fun to create with. She is so just the best. She has the best energy. She's so creative. She wrote the verse. It was her idea to do an acoustic version that you can get on my website. It's soon, but it's very, you know, I don't know, it was just a great experience, and she was the perfect person to do this song with. Absolutely perfect, especially in the lyricism of it all. Like, it feels, the song still feels so true to the both of you, but also you both have these very, like, I wrote, like, heart-bleeding songs that have become very popular, so to also hear you guys do this kind of, like, fun, cheeky little moment where there are so many fun, cheeky moments on the album, too, which is where I think the question of the fun that you had with Benny comes into it, because you can tell there's so much, like, humor in both of your writing on the album, which is so nice, interwoven between these really vulnerable, deep moments. It's like, but that's life. It's like... Absolutely. Yeah. I think that, in general, I've always, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but I love emo music. Oh, my God. I live for a song that I can cry to, that I can relate to, that... It just... That, to me, is when I'm being the most real. And so he said the same thing, and he was like, we should add, you know, colors of, like, your life and do it in an honest way, unapologetically, and it just felt very natural, and I love... I just love a good song. Oh, my God. It breaks my heart. Well, truly, that was... Like, growing up, I would listen to, like, Celine Dion and stuff in the kitchen of, like, her big ballads, and my parents would be like, are you okay? Like, you're 10. Like, how do you relate to this song? Oh, my God. I just feel... Like, I love... Yeah. I think it's probably the... Maybe the actor in you as well that loves the emotional side of telling a story. I am actually... That's such an accurate statement. Yeah. I do love the emotion. But then it's still... What could have been hard is, okay, well, we want to add cheeky stuff. We don't want it to all be emotional. Yeah. But we want it... But it's still such a cohesive album, which I think is such an impressive part of it, and it must have been very fun, like, doing a lot of this press with Benny. Your Hot Ones was incredible. I don't know why I agreed to go on that show. That was twice I tortured myself. Well, you know, it's for the art. It's for the art. And on... During Hot Ones, you said, Benny said, you introduced him to some of Taylor's music. Yeah. Does he have a favorite now? Oh, he... Okay, so he loves Wildest Dreams. Of course. Of course, 1989 girl. But I was trying to bring it back to, like, Taylor, and we... Obviously, it was her versions. Yes. And so I played him all of, like, Enchanted. I don't know if you know that one. That's my favorite song. I know. I love that song. And, like, Better Than Revenge. Oh. It's just... He was like, wow, like, this is crazy. Like, she's so good. And he goes, I knew that, but, like, she's so good. And I was like, that's not for him. It's so... It's so crazy because that is such a relatable thing and I feel like a lot of relationships is showing each other your music tastes. Yeah. Well, he introduced me to the Marias, which is how we... We went to the concert. I was mesmerized. I needed that voice on my record. And we were very lucky. So, yeah, he introduces me to a lot of good music. Yeah. I'm more cheesy sometimes. But sometimes the cheesiness is good. It's fun. I love... I love what people may consider sometimes basic music. I'm like, there's a reason people love it. There's a reason it's popular and I love it. You know, sometimes those are the good ones. They sure are. Thank you so much I know. I could talk to you forever. Truly. This would be so fun to do more of. You have such lovely energy. or something? Well, now, I guess. You're so fun. Okay. Thank you for speaking with me. I can't wait to go home and play the album more and more and more and just discover more about it. I'll probably keep writing notes even though we've covered so much. Just DM me. I will. I absolutely will. Thank you so much. Thank you. This was lovely.