Summer Preview: Selena Gomez’s ‘When The Sun Goes Down’

Selena Gomez has been showcasing her new relationship with Justin Bieber as of late, but she’s also been working round and round the clock promoting the release of her third album, When The Sun Goes Down, which has a good chance of providing some of the major tunes you’ll be blasting on the beach this summer. The Disney actress dipped her toe into the club scene with her last dance-pop LP, A Year Without Rain — what can we expect this time? Hop below to find out all you need to know about Selena’s new tunes!

ALBUM: When The Sun Goes Down, the third album from Selena Gomez & The Scene. Too bad most people keep forgetting The Scene. (For the record, The Scene is made up of guitarist Ethan Roberts, bassist Joey Clement, drummer Greg Garman and keyboardist Dane Forrest.)

RELEASE DATE: June 28

SINGLES RELEASED SO FAR: So far, Selena has released the self-affirming lead single “Who Says”. The second single will be the album’s opening track “Love You Like A Love Song”, whose video caught some heat (particularly from fellow pop star Pink) for including painted horses in the shoot. (The horses have since been nixed from the final edit of the vid.) We’ve also heard the bad dude kiss-off banger “Bang Bang Bang”, which is released as part of an iTunes countdown.

ALBUM PRODUCERS: Writers and producers include Top 40 hitmaker Dr. Luke, as well as Rock Mafia (Miley Cyrus), Toby Gad (Fergie, Beyonce) and Greg Kurstin (Ke$ha, Mike Posner). Describing her new album to Billboard, Selena described the sound of her new LP:

“It’s techno dance. Pop is something I’m most comfortable with and these are producers who know me and know the direction we want to go in. The songs are tailored to me and my style. I’m very lucky.”

POP STAR CONNECTIONS: Selena had a huge assist from some of her pop colleagues — the track “Whiplash” was co-written by Britney Spears, “That’s More Like It” was co-penned by the muse behind her 2010 Halloween costume, Katy Perry, and “We Own The Night” was co-written by English pop gal Pixie Lott.

TOURING PLANS: Selena is hitting the road this July with Allstar Weekend on a North American tour. Don’t be surprised if she throws a nod to her “Whiplash” writer and performs a Britney Spears medley during her show.

MORE SELENA THIS SUMMER: She’ll star in the Fox movie Monte Carlo (in theaters this July) and embark on a spree of cross-country appearances all through June to support her flick. As far as music-related events, the Selena will appear during Good Morning America’s summer concert series June 17, tackle hosting and performance duties for the Much Music Awards on June 19, and hit up even more talk shows in the following weeks.

OUR THOUGHTS: We think the 18-year old has been growing and maturing with each and every album, and following Britney and Miley’s footsteps, When The Sun Goes Down could be the one that finally elevates her above her Disney roots and plants her in the big leagues. Hey, her single “Who Says” is doing better on the charts than Beyonce’s tunes (as of this posting, “Who Says” stands at #31) — who knows what other pop legends Ms. Gomez will best next?

Shed a light on the rest of the albums coming your way in the next few months by checking out our Summer Preview write-ups on Owl City’s All Things Bright And Beautiful, Eminem and Royce Da 5′9″’s Hell: The Sequel, Weird Al Yankovic’s Alpocolypse and Beyonce’s 4.