Selena Gomez says making music with Benny Blanco 'felt like it was meant to be'
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco are opening up about how making music together came about.
The "Emilia Pérez" star and her record producer fiancé talked about their upcoming album together, "I Said I Love You First," and said that it "felt like it was meant to be." They also talked about their new song that was released Thursday, which features Gracie Abrams.
"You look at both me and Selena, and we've been fortunate enough to have these careers that have lasted so long, and this was just an idea that started in our bedroom and it was like, 'Let's just make something fun,'" Blanco told Zane Lowe in an interview on Apple Music 1.
"And then it actually was really good, and I was like, holy, we have to do this," he added. "And all the friends who made this album with us, it wasn't like, 'Today we're getting together and we're making a hit song.' I would be like, 'Hey, Julia, Justin, you want to come over? We've written for 15 years and so have you with Selena.' Everything felt right, and it almost felt too good."
The duo, who got engaged in December 2024, had previously worked together on Gomez's songs, "Kill Em With Kindness" in 2015 and "Single Soon" in 2023. They released their first single last week from their upcoming album called "Scared of Loving You."
The love song was co-written by Gomez, Blanco and FINNEAS. A press release said it "celebrates the pair's love story, giving fans a unique window into their relationship."
Gomez said that she and Blanco chose "Scared of Loving You" as their first song to release from the album because it felt like "it was a little taste of what we are and how we made this together and how much we loved it and how much we love each other and it just felt like it was meant to be."
Blanco added, "It's that moment where you have to give yourself up to someone and you're a little scared… it's Selena more than anybody else, she's had such a journey in life, both personally, medically, so many other things. She makes you just believe it."
He continued, "She's like, 'I'm not scared of dying young or anyone,' but she's scared of the fact of losing someone that she's finally created a bond with where she feels comfortable enough. And somehow by God's grace, I happen to be that person. I have no idea why, but I am."
On Thursday, Gomez and Blanco released the second song from their new album called "Call Me When You Break Up," which features Abrams.
Abrams, who wrote her own verse on the song, talked about how "grateful" she was for the opportunity. She added that "the song was immediately so stuck in my head as soon as I heard it for the first time."
Ahead of the release of "I Said I Love You First," Gomez said that working on the project has been "cathartic and beautiful."
"There's nothing that makes me more proud than to stand by everything I've done and love it deeply and really just pour my heart into it," she said.
"I Said I Love You First" will be released on March 21.
