Selena Gomez Drops New Album Titled 'Rare'

At the conclusion of Selena Gomez’s new album, “Rare,” Spotify autoplayed a song from her previous full-length, 2015’s “Revival,” that sounded almost sophomoric by comparison. It’s hard to think of a more dramatic example of how far Gomez has come musically in nearly five years: “Rare” is one of the best pop albums to be released in recent memory, and — as it does for artists ranging from Robyn and Charli XCX to Max Martin’s more adventurous productions — it feels like that term does a discredit to this sophisticated, precisely written and expertly produced music.

Gomez has been leaning that way for the past few years, particularly on collaborations with songwriters Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels like 2017’s excellent “Bad Liar.” While that song isn’t present on “Rare”’s basic tracklist (it and several other extraneous tunes are available on the extended Target edition), it’s a very clear signpost to this strong and remarkably consistent album.