The path from child star to sexy emancipation was so firmly stomped into the pop map by Britney, Christina et al that Selena Gomez was following it before she even left Disney, loudly asserting her autonomy for three albums with emo-pop band Selena Gomez & the Scene and one cookie-cutter solo effort, Stars Dance. That leaves her, on this first record outside the Disney stable, free to explore without bluster. The most surprising thing about Revival is its understatement, despite the hit-making co-writers, from the softly bubbling beats of the title track and the lust-dream R&B of Good for You to the spooky Ashes to Ashes synths of winning Charli XCX collaboration Same Old Love.
