Artist: Selena Gomez and the Scene

Album: When the Sun Goes Down

Record Label: Hollywood

Soundwaves: 3.5/5

Sounds Like: Good, clean teen pop rock

There’s no denying Selena Gomez’s talent after she transformed herself into a full-fledged pop music icon in three albums. But at 18, the teen starlet is still stuck in the shadows of her worst enemy: Mickey Mouse.

Nowhere is this more evident then on her latest effort, ‘When the Sun Goes Down.’ Instead of expanding on hints of edgier leanings, Gomez’s album reeks of the squeaky-clean smell of Disney’s usual good, clean fun. Gomez is a product of Radio Disney:  exile on the airwaves for Disney Channel actresses who don’t have enough charisma for mainstream radio, notably sugary sweet Hillary Duff and the painfully tone deaf Miley Cyrus.

Gomez, and the Scene, her mostly anonymous backing band, are something of an outlier for Disney’s usual family friendly sounds. ‘Bang Bang Bang’ plays as a B-side to Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame Monster’ album, with bouncy synthesizer lilts and pristine vocals. ‘Hit the Lights’ is a piano-driven romp with brooding verses juxtaposed next to one of my favorite choruses of the year.

The album is flawlessly produced, and the slew of songwriters who got roped into duty, including Kevin Rudolf and Katy Perry, cranked out a handful of surefire hits. But the Mouse giveth, and the Mouse taketh away. Gomez is pigeonholed into tween-friendly territory. There are instances on the album where the starlet verges on uncharted territory, such as the moody, thumping electronics of ‘Whiplash,’ but most of her originality gets snuffed out and crushed by Mickey’s giant yellow boot.

For what it’s worth, ‘When the Sun Goes Down’ is radio-friendly in a non-obtrusive, uncontroversial kind of way. Most songs on the record are infectiously catchy and sing-along worthy, and Gomez makes love songs sound innocent and believable again which almost makes the album’s downfalls more tolerable.

Instead of exploring her own direction, Gomez’s album is littered with bland songs that sound like rejected Disney princess tunes, with ho-hum choruses and the same hackneyed messages over and over. ‘Who Says’ is as vanilla as a pop song can get, force-feeding its bored scatting and message of individuality to utterly bored listeners. ‘We Own the Night’ has its moments with an enormous chorus that rises above the sinking mediocrity dragging down the album, but struggles with juvenile lyrics and generic instrumentation.

Influence is also drawn from Gomez’s arm candy, Justin Bieber. Like the Biebs, Gomez can’t hit a single high note on ‘That’s More Like It’ and awkwardly feigns bravado on the uninspired ‘Middle of Nowhere,’ a place where she’ll find her career unless she can keep herself from major label creative stagnation.

The songs Gomez has written herself are far above the low bar set by the unremarkable hits mass-produced by her record label. But her contract with Disney and her own creativity as an artist are at a crossroads. It’s an understatement to say it would be easy for Gomez to stick with Disney, who pays the bills, writes a hefty majority of the songs, and dominates the preteen demographic. But it would be rewarding to see Gomez quit the scene, hone her raw songwriting ability, and delve into a project she can claim for her very own.

ervanrhe@syr.edu

Published on July 16, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Erik: ervanrhe@syr.edu | @therealvandyman