Oh Justin Bieber has a new single? Selena Gomez raises you an album — and it's all about her new chapter now that her married ex is no longer in her life. The first two singles from Rare, "Lose You To Love Me" and "Look At Her Now," dropped late last year and were very explicitly about the heartbreak following the iconic 2010s couple's reunion. While the rest of the album explores not just Bieber, but also Gomez's personal growth over the past few difficult years, there's no shortage of lines that close the book on their relationship in the most savage way.
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Bieber isn't just a dodged bullet who set fires to Gomez's forest, as she sang about in the first two singles, but also an experience that affects her future relationships. In "Vulnerable," Gomez sings about her wariness in new relationships after past heartbreak.
"If I give you every piece of me, I know that you could drop it / Give you the chance, I know that you could take advantage, but you caught it / If I open up my heart to you, I know that you could lock it / Throw away the key, and keep it there forever in your pocket," the song goes.
She also seems to give a shady nod to Bieber's engagement and marriage to Hailey Bieber, which swiftly followed his brief reunion with Gomez, in "Ring."
"Wrapped 'round my finger like a ring, ring, ring / They just like puppets on a string, string, string," she sings. "I put it down, they call me up / They doin' way too much, so I'll just let it ring, ring, ring."
But then there are songs that seem to clearly be about her relationship with Bieber, and they do not hold back.
"So many wasted (Wasted) / Nights with (Nights with) you (You)," she sings in "People You Know." "I still could taste it (Taste it) / I hate it, wish I could take it back 'cause / We used to be close, but people can go / From people you know to people you don't."
"Cut You Off" is similarly harsh, with Gomez singing, "The truth is that I think I've had enough / Professionally messin' with my trust / How could I confuse that shit for love?"
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But make no mistake: Rare is not an album about Bieber. It's an album about Gomez's worth in the wake of that relationship, and it ends with "A Sweeter Place," which is the perfect encapsulation of her recovery.
"You'll really wanna know where I've been all this time / So lemme tell ya / Ooh, got two feet on the ground and felt what real is like / What it was like / Livin' out of the scene, out in the wild / Learnin' to breathe," the lyrics read. "Up in the clouds, far from the crowds / I can't believe I can be loud / Holdin' hands with the darkness and knowin' my heart is allowed / Allowed."
New year, new Gomez, no Bieber. Rare is streaming now.