Rock Mafia, Devrim Karaoglu, Toby Gad, Emanuel Kiriakou, Dreamlab, Greg Kurstin, Stefan Abingdon, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Thomas Armato Sturges, Sandy Vee, Espionage
When The Sun Goes Down is the third studio album by American band Selena Gomez & The Scene, released on June 28, 2011, by Hollywood Records. The band worked with several artists on this album, including writers and producers from their debut, Kiss & Tell (2009), and their second album, A Year Without Rain (2010), such as Rock Mafia duo Tim James and Antonina Armato, as well as Katy Perry, Devrim "DK" Karaoglu, andToby Gad. New contributors to this album included Britney Spears, Priscilla Renea, Emanuel Kiriakou, Dreamlab and Sandy Vee.
When The Sun Goes Down spawned three singles. The lead single from the album, Who Says was released on March 14, 2011, peaking at number 21 in the United States and in the top twenty in Canada and New Zealand. The acoustic pop song also went Platinum in the United States. The second single from the album is Love You Like A Love Song charted in the top forty in Belgium, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The third single, Hit The Lights was released on November 17, 2011, and reached number 11 in Belgium. The fourth single off When The Sun Goes Down was going to be My Dilemma, however producer, Rock Mafia then tweeted that Hollywood Records has decided not to release the remix featuring Flo Rida titled My Dilemma 2.0 as the fourth single. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with sales 78,000 copies, surpassing the first week sales of their first two albums. The album rose to number three in its second week.
In 2009, the band released their debut album, Kiss & Tell, and quickly followed-up with 2010's A Year Without Rain. After the release of the latter Gomez said that she was not in a rush to release another album, but after hearing Who Says, she decided to begin another release, calling the song "amazing" and crediting it for inspiring her. Who Says debuted on radio show On Air With Ryan Seacrest as the first single of the album. On March 18, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Gomez revealed, "the third record is really fun, and there's a song called Hit The Lights that I love, and it's basically about every missed opportunity that you've had," she said. "But it's also a dance track. There's a lot more depth [on this album]". Gomez also revealed British recording artist Pixie Lott and German producer Toby Gad had both penned tracks for the album, while confirming its release for Summer 2011. A few days later, the singer revealed her team and the band "haven't decided [a] title [yet for the album] and we're dealing with the album artwork, 'cause it is very different and I'm growing up. It's a lot more mature". MTV News later confirmed that American recording artist Britney Spears had also written a song for the album titled Whiplash. On June 1, 2011, the album's name, When The Sun Goes Down, and track listing were revealed through Gomez's official website. After several songs from When The Sun Goes Down started to leak online, Gomez posted several video messages on her YouTube official channel featuring commentaries about each song of the album. When The Sun Goes Down was released on June 28, 2011 by Hollywood Records.
Singles[]
The album's lead single, Who Says, was co-written and produced by Emanuel Kiriakou, Priscilla Hamilton, and was released on March 14, 2011. The song has been met with generally positive reviews from most music critics, with many praising its theme of self-empowerment and Bill Lamb of About.com even called the band "the most consistent Disney pop hitmaker in recent years." The song proved moderately successful, debuting at number twenty-four and so far peaking at number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and has gone on to sell over a million copies in the United States, and was certified platinum by RIAA. Who Says also reached number seventeen in Canada and fifteen in New Zealand, becoming the band's highest charting single on those countries. The song also managed to peak inside the top fifty in Germany and Ireland and appeared on the main charts in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, Austria, Thailand and Vietnam. On June 17, Love You Like A Love Song, the album's official second single was released. Gomez started filming the music video for Hit The Lights in September 2011. The video was released in November 2011, the song has currently attained the top thirty chart position in Belgium and debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number ninety-three. Hit The Lights was officially released as the third international single, starting from January 20, 2012. On May 29, 2012, it was announced that a remix of the song My Dilemma featuring rapper Flo Rida would be released as the album's fourth official single. Producer, Rock Mafia then tweeted that Hollywood Records has decided not to release the remix titled My Dilemma 2.0 as the fourth single. Rock Mafia announced on September 6, 2012 via Twitter that My Dilemma 2.0 may be on Selena's next album.
Critical reception[]
Metacritic gives the album a score of 65/100 based on 4 reviews. So far, the album has been met with positive reception. Mikael Wood from 'Entertainment Weekly writes, "Gomez sounds fully invested in tart electro-disco ditties like Bang Bang Bang, and "top-shelf collaborators don't hurt — see: the grinding Whiplash, co-penned by one Britney Spears."" Bill Lamb from About.com commented, "It is all wrapped up in smart pop melodies, electropop flourishes, and winning emotional engagement. This is Selena Gomez's best vocal album yet.". Jody Rosen from Rolling Stone writes, "At just 18 years old, Selena Gomez is a showbiz vet, with a decade-plus in the game. (Before she was a Disney princess, she did dinosaur duets on Barney & Friends.) So it's no surprise that Gomez's third album is a very professional affair. The production credits are full of top flight songwriter-producers, and even a couple of starlets. (Britney Spears and Katy Perry get songwriting credits here).
When the Sun Goes Down was released on June 28, 2011. In the week of July, 4, 2011, it debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 with their highest sales week ever, selling 78,000 copies in its first week. It beat out Kiss & Tell (#9 with 66,000 copies) and A Year Without Rain (#4 with 66,000 copies). In Canada, the album debuted at #2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 9,000 copies in its first week.
