Gracie Abrams gets collaborative in her latest feature on “Call Me When You Break Up” with Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco — a song that teleports me back to the type of pop song I heard on the radio in the back of my mom’s car on the way to elementary school.
Released on Thursday, Feb. 20, the song really leans into the 2000s nostalgic hyper-pop of it all, complete with a catchy chorus that gets stuck in your head after your first listen.
The opening recording of an answering machine droning, “Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system / 0-61 is not available / At the tone, please record your message,” solidifies the nostalgic feel for me.
Abrams is one of my favorite artists and I adore her voice wholeheartedly and Gomez was a defining figure of my Disney-Channel loving childhood, but this song kind of falls flat for me.
Don’t get me wrong, it has its merits. I think it has its place and it does its specific job well — a fun, lighthearted and catchy beat paired with moderate to severely cliche lyrics about an ex-flame who has moved on to a new partner — but it’s just not the sort of song I personally gravitate toward the most.
I much prefer Abrams’ slower and melodic songs, with lyrics that make me question everything that has ever happened to me, and I will forever cling on to the Gomez songs of my youth rather than “Call Me When You Break Up.” There is certainly a time and place for everything and maybe it’ll make its way onto one of my playlists eventually.
3/5 stars
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @selenagomez, Instagram
