Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco opened up about why the title of their new album I Said I Love You First felt so right, in a new short film released Thursday (May 15).
“We were just, like, trying to figure out what to even call this thing. It’s such a scary thing, ’cause it’s like, ‘Oh, we worked so long on this! How are we even gonna figure out…’” Blanco recalls before trailing off, with Gomez quick to respond, “But I feel like that became something really easy: I Said I Love You First is just a fact.”
“Technically, you probably would’ve said it first,” she then admits, laughing over her cup of tea before triumphantly adding, “I just beat you to it!”
During the 12-minute film for Vevo Extended Play, the newly engaged couple perform intimate renditions of a number of cuts off I Said I Love You First, including second single “Sunset Blvd,” “How Does It Feel to Be Forgotten” and “Scared of Loving You.”
In between numbers, the lovebirds spill plenty of other tidbits about the songs on their romantic, collaborative project — from “Sunset Blvd” being inspired by the location of their first date (well, “the second half” of it, anyway, according to Blanco) to why “Scared of Loving You” is the “easiest” song for Gomez to perform.
“It’s so easy for us to do a thing together, like a project, because we speak the same language — both in music and, you know, personally,” the producer says of the way their romance translated to musical chemistry in the studio while crafting their joint album. “Whenever either one of us has an idea, we’re always gonna listen to each other, and that, to me, goes both romantically and in our working relationship.”
I Said I Love You First bowed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its March 25 release. Since then, Gomez and Blanco have already unveiled a deluxe version of the LP titled I Said I Love You First… And You Said It Back, which features additional collaborations with GloRilla, DJ Sliink and Cigarettes After Sex and other bonus tracks.
Watch Gomez and Blanco’s I Said I Love You First short film in full below.
