An epic comeback! Selena Gomez made her return to music on Wednesday, October 23, with her new single, “Lose You to Love Me.”
Many fans suspect that the song’s lyrics are inspired by the 27-year-old’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber. At one point, she sings, “Set fire to my purpose and I let it burn,” an apparent nod to the title of Bieber’s 2015 album, Purpose. And later on, she croons, “In two months, you replaced us / Like it was easy.” (The on-off couple called it quits for good in March 2018, three months before Us Weekly confirmed that Bieber had been hooking up with his now-wife, Hailey Baldwin.)
Gomez teased the drop of “Lose You to Love Me” with cryptic posts across social media last week. She shared a black-and-white photo on Thursday, October 17, that read, “Rose colored glasses all distorted.” She followed this update by posting a silent video of a movie theater with a marquee that read, “I saw the signs and I ignored it.” She mentioned the same saying in the clip’s caption while tagging Spotify.
Later that day, she added a pic to her Instagram Stories of an Amazon Music billboard in New York City’s Times Square.
And the day before that, the Disney Channel alum posted an adorable throwback pic of herself as a kid. “We always go into it blindly,” she wrote.
Gomez, as of late, has placed her focus on projects outside of music. She recently executive produced a Netflix docuseries, Living Undocumented, and starred in The Dead Don’t Die this past summer. She also traveled to Italy in July to celebrate her 27th birthday with close friends.
Earlier this year, the Spring Breakers star collaborated on music with Julia Michaels for “Anxiety” and Benny Blanco for “I Can’t Get Enough.” She, however, hasn’t released any solo material since “Back to You” in 2018 or a full-length album since 2015’s Revival.
In February, she posted a cryptic video of herself working from a recording studio. “This week, next week and every week,” she wrote at the time.
Us Weekly reported in October that Gomez was seeking treatment for her mental health at an East Coast psychiatric. The month before, she had two hospitalizations at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
A source told Us that she was “resting and getting treatment for a series of panic attacks related to ongoing medical issues,” adding that the Coach collaborator was “definitely improving every day.” Her treatment was “open-ended.”
After leaving the mental health facility, Gomez took to Instagram in January to reveal how 2018 was “definitely a year of self-reflection, challenges and growth.”
“It’s always those challenges which show you who you are and what you are capable of overcoming,” she continued. “Trust me, it’s not easy, but I am proud of the person I am becoming and look forward to the year ahead. Love you all.”
Before entering treatment, Gomez confirmed on Instagram in September 2018 that she was working on recording her third solo record. She shared a video from her studio session that showed her working with a colleague, captioning the moment: “Here’s my new record in the making lol (while I was sick)🙄.”
