日落时分 (2011)

When the Sun Goes Down is the third and final studio album by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene, released on June 21, 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's Tim James and Antonina Armato, as well as Katy Perry, Devrim "DK" Karaoglu, and Toby 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 in March 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 and final single, "Hit the Lights" was released on January 20, 2012. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with sales 78,000 copies, surpassing the first week sales of the group's first two albums. The album rose to number three in its second week. As of January 2020, the album sold over 710,000 copies in the United States. This is the final album released by the group before their indefinite hiatus.

Background

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 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. A few days later, the singer revealed her team and the band "haven't decided 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 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 themes of its predecessor "A Year Without Rain", with a lighter and sassier feel, according to Tim Sendra of AllMusic also incorporating electro-disco music. Tracks like "Hit the Lights" have disco influences, as they pair ballad lyrics with uptempo and midtempo dance music. The album also explores organic instrumentation. 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.