Selena Gomez figured it out five years ago. With Rare, her third solo studio album, the former Disney Channel breakthrough-turned multi hyphenate superstar distilled her skills as a recording artist into a slinky,

Selena Gomez’s new album I Said I Love You First is here and, with the help of fiancé and collaborator Benny Blanco, in it she shares an honest look at her past as well as her next chapter.

The myopia of romance could make for unrelatable, navel-gazing music — the kind that should stay between partners instead of being shared with the world. But from the get-go, recently engaged pairSelena Gomez and Benny Blanco have managed to avoid cliché.