When the Sun Goes Down (Selena Gomez & the Scene album)

In 2009, the band released their debut album, Kiss & Tell, and quickly followed-up with 2010's A Year Without Rain. "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 News, 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 singer Pixie Lott and German producer Toby Gad had both penned tracks for the album, while confirming its release for later that year. MTV News later confirmed that American singer 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. ==Composition==

Musically, When the Sun Goes Down expands on the dance-pop and electropop Both the first single "Who Says" and the fourth track "We Own the Night" featuring Pixie Lott features more acoustic, indie pop sounds, which was originally intended for Kelly Clarkson's fifth album Stronger. They are the only songs on the album devoid of synthesized instrumentation. The first track, "Love You Like a Love Song", was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Adam Schmalholz and was produced by Rock Mafia and Devrim Karaoglu. Also serving as the album's second single, the song contains deep, whispered vocals and incorporates a eurodisco rhythm and a soft dubstep influence. Gomez described the promotional single "Bang Bang Bang" as fun and cheeky. It is made up of 1980s electro-disco synths and sees Gomez praising her new boyfriend while mocking her ex. The track was also compared to British electropop duo La Roux's 2009 hit "Bulletproof". "Who Says" is an acoustic self-empowerment anthem where the singer extends kindness and sympathy to her critics. Serving as the album's first single, it debuted on the Hot 100 at number twenty-four and peaked at number twenty-one, standing as the group's highest charting single in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand. "We Own the Night" was written by Toby Gad and British electronic soul singer-songwriter Pixie Lott, who is also featured on backing vocals. The track has a largely acoustic, harmonic sound paired with escapist lyrics in the style of Jimmy Buffett. "Hit the Lights" written by Leah Haywood, Daniel James, Tony Nilsson and produced by Dreamlab is a dance song about overcoming anxiety and living in the moment. American pop singer Britney Spears composed the album's sixth track titled "Whiplash". It is an electropop song Selena Gomez stated that "When the Sun Goes Down" held a special meaning for her and her bass player, Joey Clement, because of their collaborative involvement in the track's composition. Gomez commented "I got to rewrite the bridge of it as well. It felt like we got to do that as a band." The eighth track on the album is "My Dilemma", a Kelly Clarkson-esque pop rock song about conflicted feelings towards a potential breakup. "That's More Like It", the following track, is penned by Katy Perry and was inspired by American women of the 1950s and their relegation to domesticity. In the song, Gomez demands that her negligent man does the cooking, cleaning, and housework, commanding him "Make me dinner and bring it to me." "Outlaw" is a bleak cautionary tale and revenge ballad lyrically similar to Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" and Lady Gaga's "Monster". The lyrics also make use of Wild West imagery and references to Gomez's home state of Texas, "I'm from the Lone Star state, I'm ready to bring you in." The album's final song "Middle of Nowhere" is a dance-pop ballad that features electropop beats and synthesizers along with bells and chimes. In the song, Gomez laments being left behind by a manipulative ex lover, for whom she made drastic personal changes. The song's bridge is a deep and heavily-breathed spoken-word recitation of the song's chorus, much in the style of Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson. A Spanish-language version of the lead single "Who Says" titled "Dices" is featured as a bonus track. ==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 followed by a Spanish version of "Who Says", titled "Dices". ==Critical reception==

When The Sun Goes Down generally received mixed reviews from the music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 58 out of 100, which indicates "mixed or average reviews" based on six reviews. Kitty Empire of The Guardian wrote that "throughout this dance-pop album there's a catch in her throat that suggests an embryonic personality." Accolades ==Commercial performance==

When the Sun Goes Down was released on June 28, 2011. In the week of July 4, 2011, it debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with the band's highest sales week to date, selling 78,000 copies in its first week. The next week the album rose to number three, selling 44,000 copies, making it the band's highest charting album. In Canada, the album sold 9,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album debuted in Spain at number two on the Spanish Albums Chart. The album peaked there for three weeks, during the debut week and the fifth and sixth week on the chart. In Belgium, the album debuted at number twenty-one on the Belgian Albums Chart and jumped to its peak position at number six. The album debuted and peaked at number six in Mexico. The album debuted at number sixteen in Norway and rose to its peak position at number 6 in its eighth week. The album has sold over 710,000 copies in the United States. ==Track listing==

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes Notes • signifies co-producer • signifies a producer and vocal producer • signifies a vocal producer • signifies a language adapter • Digital deluxe edition includes eight remix bonus tracks of "Love You like a Love Song". • United Kingdom iTunes Store edition includes the bonus behind the scenes video of "Love You like a Love Song". • Canadian iTunes Store standard edition includes the track "Who Says" (SmashMode Radio Remix) as track 12 instead of "Dices" (Spanish version of "Who Says"). • Target and ASDA edition includes the bonus remix tracks "Fantasma de Amor" ("Ghost of You" – Spanish version), "A Year Without Rain" (Dave Audé Radio Remix), "Who Says" (Bimbo Jones Radio Remix), and "Who Says" (Dave Audé Radio Remix). • Japanese edition includes the bonus remix tracks "Who Says" (Dave Audé Radio Remix), "Round & Round" (7th Heaven Radio Mix), and "A Year Without Rain" (Fascination Club Radio Edit). • Japanese edition also includes a bonus DVD which features the music videos and behind the scenes of "Who Says" and "Love You like a Love Song" . ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes • Selena Gomez – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (track 4) • Rock Mafia – production, mixing & additional background vocals (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Toby Gad – production, mixing, programming & instruments (tracks 2, 4) • Greg Kurstin – production, mixing, engineering, keyboards, bass, guitar & programming (track 6) • Nigel Lundemo – digital editing (tracks 1, 8, 10), additional vocal editing (track 12) • Josh Alexander – production, programming, recording & instruments (track 9) • Sandy Vee – production, vocal production, mixing & keyboards (track 11) • Mark Portmann – language adaptation, recording, vocal production & additional vocal editing (track 12) • Paul Palmer – mixing (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Adam Comstock – engineering (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Steve Hammons – engineering (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Devrim Karaoglu – co-production (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Tim Pierce – guitar (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Tim James – digital editing (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Brooke Adams – additional background vocals (tracks 1, 8, 10) • Emanuel Kiriakou – production (tracks 3, 12), instruments (track 3) • Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 3, 5, 12) • John Hanes – mix engineering (tracks 3, 5, 12) • Espen Lind – recording, guitar & keyboards (track 11) • Tim Roberts – mix engineering assistance (tracks 3, 12) • Pixie Lott – lead vocals & background vocals (track 4) • Stefan Abingdon – production & mixing (track 7) • Brian Reeves – mixing & recording (track 7) • Jon Vella – additional programming (track 8, 10) • Noel Zancanella – programming & instruments (track 9) • Carmen Michelle – vocal production & backing vocals (track 11) • Edgar Cortazar – language adaptation & vocal production (track 12) • Ross Hogarth – engineering (track 1) • Priscilla Renea – backing vocals (track 2) • Meleni Smith – backing vocals (track 2) • Andrew Goldstein – additional synthesizer (track 3) • Dreamlab – production (track 5) • Phil Seaford – engineering assistance (track 5) • Jesse Shatkin – engineering (track 6) • Nicole Morier – backing vocals (track 6) • Lindsey Harper – backing vocals (track 7) • Jimmy Messer – guitar (track 8) • Billy Steinberg – production (track 9) • Phil Tan – mixing (track 9) • Chris Garcia – digital editing (track 9) • Scott Roewe – logic and pro tools teching (track 9) • Damien Lewis – additional engineering assistance (track 9) • Thomas Sturges – co-production (track 10) • Espionage – production (track 11) • Francis Murray – recording (track 11) • Howard Willing – recording (track 11) • Carlos Castro – recording (track 12) • Leyla Hoyle – background vocals (track 12) ; Credits • Robert Vosgien – mastering • Jon Lind – A&R • Cindy Warden – A&R coordination • Lincoln Wheeler – marketing • Mandy Teefey – management • David Lande – legal • David Snow – creative director • Jeri Heiden – art direction • Nick Steinhardt – art direction & design • Kate Turning – photography • Steve Jacobi – photo producer ==Charts==

Charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==