Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's New Album 'a Joy to Work on’ (EXCL)
Selena Gomez is thrilled with the results of her new album, I Said I Love You First, and a source exclusively tells Life & Style the project was hugely cathartic as she was able to put the old demons from her past relationships behind her and get even closer to fiancée Benny Blanco, who was by her side and supportive throughout.
“Selena is in an entirely new chapter in her life and this album celebrates that,” the insider says. “It’s full of joy and is her sexiest, most adult album yet.”
“The writing process always gets very deep, that’s how she comes up with her best stuff, and this album was no different, so it was emotional at times. Yes, she’s in a very happy place now, but as everyone knows she’s been through hell with her love life and she dug into her past hurts for some of the inspiration.”
On one of Selena’s new tracks, “You Said You Were Sorry,” she throws shade ex Justin Bieber’s way for the first time in a long time, which cut especially deep considering the “Baby” singer’s recent spat of erratic behavior and rumors he’s going through a rough patch with wife Hailey Bieber.
Justin, 32, has since revealed that his songs “What Do You Mean?,” “Mark My Words” and “Sorry” — the song Selena’s own music referenced — from his 2016 album, Purpose, were about his ex girlfriend, who he dated up until 2014 when they officially split, though they kept an on-again-off-again deal going for some years afterwards.
More importantly than seizing the opportunity to take a swipe at her ex was the chance to make music with fiancée Benny, 37. The album was a collaborative project between the former Disney star and the music producer and, as Life & Style had reported, their keen on keeping their relationship positive and productive.
A second source previously dished, “Selena adores Benny and she’s got zero doubt in her mind that they’ll last,” and that “She wouldn’t have [accepted] his proposal otherwise.” The pair were first linked in June 2023, with things moving pretty quick as they fell in love and began working on projects together. Benny popped the question in December 2024 and rumor has it a wedding is well underway for some time in 2025. Though, their history actually goes back more than ten years. Benny had production credits on the singles “Kill Em with Kindness” and “Same Old Love” from Selena’s 2015, Revival, when she was still seeing Justin here and there.
The first source notes that this new album was a joint production through and through. “Benny was all for it, he knows it’s part of the process and he wanted this album to really capture Selena and their whole love story and everything they’ve had to work through, their past baggage and all that.”
“It’s been such a joy to work together and the really great thing is that when it’s time to go on tour they can go together, it’s ideal.”