Selena Gomez Gets Personal On Her New Album

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Selena Gomez opened up about her new album, Revival (due out Oct. 9), and it sounds like it could be her most personal effort yet. (Revival is only Gomez's second solo LP, but she's released three LPs with her pop-rock band, Selena Gomez & The Scene.) "I’ve lived such a public life that I understand that I’m under a microscope," the star said. "That has taken me into so many different phases. It’s made me depressed and it’s made me happy and it’s made me grateful and humble—but [I’ve learned] it’s okay to let down my walls with my music, to feel sexy and good."

Revival 's lead single, "Good For You," definitely reflects Gomez's recent decision to "let down" her "walls": the track shows off a vulnerable, mature, and alluring new side of the 23-year-old singer that never feels inauthentic or forced — and the general public has fallen in love with it. "Good For You" currently sits at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which makes it one of the highest-charting singles of Gomez's career. However, going through a personal and artistic transformation isn't easy.

At the end of August, Gomez let off some steam on Twitter about the way she's often portrayed in the media:

Idolator's Mike Wass hypothesizes Gomez's tweets were made in response to an article published in the Sunday Times on Aug. 23, which casually refers to her as the "ex-girlfriend of Justin Bieber" in its very first sentence. Ugh. As I noted in July, the media doesn't seem to understand that Gomez is not just Bieber's ex: she's an immensely talented young woman with a life and successful career all of her own. She's her own person! Repeatedly characterizing Gomez as Bieber's former flame isn't just annoying, it's dismissive and disrespectful. I think she has every right to be upset.

So, in addition to letting her guard down, it seems as though Gomez hopes to break away from the frustrating labels that have followed her around for years and reassert her independence with Revival — which should make for some very exciting (and very powerful) music. I can't wait to hear what she's come up with.

"Same Old Love," the follow-up to "Good For You," is expected to premiere soon.