Selena Gomez's new album 'Rare' is finally here

By Andrea Dresdale

Selena Gomez's long-awaited album "Rare" is finally here.

The album takes its name from one of its songs, which Gomez says really seemed to sum up how she felt about herself.

In a Spotify video feature called "Rare Stories," Gomez shared, "I just felt like [the word 'Rare'] was me, if that makes sense. Obviously, I've had a lot of self-esteem issues in the past. I still struggle with confidence...and so [the song] 'Rare' made me feel incredible."

"I ended up cutting the [song] before all the other stuff came together and I never let go of that," she noted. "That name was so important to me. The moment I heard it, I said, 'That's the name of my album.'"

According to Gomez, "Rare" is "such a special word," and she hopes it impacts her fans the way it impacted her.

"If there's anything that I can do for women, even men, it would be to tell them that they're valued and that they're rare and that they're important," she shared.

Why #Rare? @SelenaGomez explains in #RareStories 🙌 pic.twitter.com/UXr0wb81Wb

— Spotify (@Spotify) January 9, 2020

"Rare" is Selena's first album since 2015's "Revival." Why did it take her so long to follow that album up? Because, well, life.

"I thought that I was so ready. Like two years ago, I thought I was ready," she told Spotify. "I had collected all of these beautiful sessions -- I don't even remember half of them, because it evolved each year. And then something would happen to me and it would be very drastic, so that it would take me somewhere else."

Finally, the singer said, she "all of a sudden ... found this healing," which inspired "the whole end of the album."

The album's emotional first single, "Lose You to Love Me," hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.