When I hear the name Selena Gomez, various Disney productions I watched as a child are drawn to my mind. I remember her starring roles: “Alex” on “Wizards of Waverly Place”  and Mary in “A Cinderella Story.” The only singing I can picture is the theme song to her TV show and maybe a few features on albums of some Disney movies—as well as a few other songs I’ve heard on the radio.

The fact that she released her second studio album, “Revival,” in October was completely unbeknownst to me. Despite the fact that I don’t generally listen to Selena Gomez’s music or much pop music in general, the Revival album actually surprised me with all the catchy songs.

The album kicks off with the song “Revival,” where Selena begins by speaking some sort of statement about the future and the sun and being reborn. Upon hearing this bold choice of a beginning, I was immediately confused and not really a fan. Despite its catchy chorus, “Revival” was definitely not my favorite song on the album.

The song following “Revival,” called “Kill Em With Kindness,” is not my favorite either—it has a nice beat but it’s very repetitive.

Once I got past the first two, the album started to improve. “Same Old Love” is very, very catchy. In fact, I couldn’t get it out of my head for hours.

“Sober” is very unique. It begins with an interesting autotuning and is slower than the other first few. “Good for You” is the only song from this album that I’ve heard on the radio—probably due to its cameo from A$AP Rocky.

One thing is for sure: the Revival album is much more mature than Selena’s former album, “For You.” “For You” features songs about love, but they are a lot less sexual than the songs on Revival. Selena is for sure no longer a teenage Disney star.

My favorite two songs on the Revival album are “Camouflage” and “Rise”. Camouflage is the slowest song by far and very pretty with a harmonized chorus. “Rise” has a very relaxing verse but a very empowering chorus, it’s a great way to close the album. The speaking Selena does works much better in Rise than in the song Revival.

I was pleasantly pleased with my first true Selena Gomez music experience. Sure there were some stylistic choices I didn’t agree with, but even without a taste for pop music I was able to enjoy parts of the album.