#just bc mh has background vocals

[likefolksongs]

my top 30 songs of 2023

18. sunshine baby by the japanese house (x)

[la-paritalienne]

Hi darling, how are you? Have you heard Selena Gomez's new album “RARE”? I'd love a review from you

hi babeeee! i’m good, i hope you are too 🥰 sorry this took a while, i wrote some tags for you so you knew i was doing it, hope you saw them? another anon asked me about this album (+ a follow up question and, spoiler alert!!! i agree w your take!) so i was already quite curious. i’ve been a little busy but finally, here it is

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rare: omggg, from the start this is the kind of beat + sound that has me bopping immediately! it’s kind of heard and reminds me of taylor swift, especially when she vocalizes. the background music is so cute, i’m not being very technical here but that’s how i feel! i’m really liking it. i adore how she articulates it feels like before the refrain. fave lyrics: and i bet there’s somebody else out there to tell me i’m rare

8,5/10

dance again: wooooah when the beat dropssssss! this reminds me of an early 2000s song? best compliment i can give to a song basically. i love the pre-chorus and the little oooh oohs. lyrically it’s not impressive but still! fave lyrics: when i speak, my body listens

8-/10

look at her now: classic song that at first has me like meh and after a while grows on me and im like mh mh mh mh mh. let’s be real, it bangssss, although something in the metrics still sounds a little off for me?? idk. still, such a jam tbh. fave lyrics: wasn’t wrong, wasn’t right, what a thing to be human, made her more of a woman

8/10

lose you to love me: at first i felt this one was a bit too slow and whiny for me, but as i listened to it more, i got used to it and learned to appreciate it. fave lyrics: we’d always go into it blindly, i needed to lose you to find me, this dancing was killing me softly, i needed to hate you to love me

8-/10

ring: this sounddddd! so vintage!!!!! omggggg. love love love, it’s so old school and sexy, it sounds like burlesque. the words aren’t particularly poetic nor relatable (to me at least gjghjkkgk) but it sounds so fucking GOOD??? fave lyrics: i put it down, they call me up

9,5/10

vulnerable: the (pre?) chorus is my favourite part here. all in all it sounds very chill and like, a basic bop, background music but not in a bad way?? just maybe not extremely memorable, but then when she goes if i show you all my demons, that elevates the whole song and that’s the part that would drive me to listen to it again, it sounds so dreamy. fave lyrics: wrap your arms around my weakness if the only other option’s letting go

8-/10

people you know: very hypnotic, both the music and her voice, especially in the chorus. it might not be groundbreaking but it’s like… chill and easy to listen to while doing stuff, jammable, a bit repetitive but it works for the whole concept. not my fave overall, but i love the layering toward the end, when the whole sound gets a bit more complex. fave lyrics: when it was good we were on fire, now i’m breathing ashes and dust

7+/10

let me get me: WHATTTTTTT this is straight from the 90s??????? iconic!!!! no ok i love it very much, there’s something addictive about how it feels like it’s straight from another era, and the iiIIIiii and the ouUut, ah oOh, it’s like… obsession material. and a great bridge, something i’ll always appreciate in a song. fave lyrics: i’m so connected to me

10/10

crowded room: i don’t think selena would plagiarise the iconic ‘me & u’ by cassie (2006) soooo this is a homage????? wow selena truly is a 90s girl…… we have to stan. love love love this one, the falsetto part is perfection, her voice is so airy, a dream. fave lyrics: out on thin ice until you came over to break it

10/10

kinda crazy: byeeeeee i say this about every song but i’m starting to get this is whole album is very vintage sounding (the early 2000s are VINTAGE now ok??? we’re getting old), the chrous is >>>>>>, one of my faves for sure. fave lyrics: i think you’re kind of crazy, and not the good kind baby

10/10

fun: ok do i sound crazy if i say this reminds me of lorde?? or at least antonoff-produced taylor swift, especially in the reputation era (which also reminded me of lorde). the chrous is soooo lorde and when she goes fun then it’s taylor but anywayy. a good song! maybe idk, the fact that it reminds me so much of someone else’s sound makes me love it a bit less than it deserves, but i still do! fave lyrics: put a gold star on my disorder

7,5/10

cut you off: again, the chrous is swiftyyyy. a soft but empowering tune, there’s something sensual about it which i love. maybe not my fave bc it’s not like… addictive, more like chillout lounge music, i wouldn’t go crazy over it, but very nice. cool instrumental around minute 2 or so! fave lyrics: how could i confuse that shit for love?

7,5/10

a sweeter place: this one sounds cosy, if that makes sense? some part i really love, others not really, maybe my least fave at least for now, but all in all i still really like it! fave lyrics: i can’t believe i can be loud, holding hands with the darkness

7/10

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ok so in conclusion, WOW?? tbh i wasn’t expecting this, not that i don’t like selena bc i’ve been obsessed w some of her singles since ‘naturally’ or ‘i love you like a love song’ (good old selena gomez & the scene! not to mention ‘good for you’ like… that shit is hot) but i wasn’t prepared to something this consisently good?? like maybe i won’t listen to it on repeat for months as i do with some albums but i wouldn’t skip any song, not to mention some are true gems (and jams) that will go on my january playlist! thank you (actually, thank both my selena anons!) for having me do this, i probably would have missed this relase otherwise and that would have been a shame bc it’s pretty great

let me know what you think, if you feel like it, as usual♡