MUMBAI: Selena Gomez's Justin Bieber heartbreak saga is over—personally and musically. It ended in October 2019 when Gomez released the first time singles from her album “Rare” back-to-back: "Lose You to Love Me" and "Look at Her Now." She purposely did it that way, she told a portal in a new interview reflecting on Rare as the Grammys nomination process begins. She wanted people to know that Jelena was d-o-n-e.

"It was my idea to release 'Lose You to Love Me' and 'Look at Her Now' [back-to-back]," Gomez said. "They [my record] were kind of nervous about it, because they didn’t want to take away from either song. I knew from the get-go that 'Lose You to Love Me' was going to be the bigger song, because I just felt it in my heart. I wanted people to take away that this was a journey and that it was completely closed. I don’t want people to see me as just sad and hurt. I didn’t want that anymore. I wanted people to know that I experienced something real, and that part of me is over."

When making Rare, Gomez "focused on creating more songs that were lyrically about transformation and vulnerability and heartbreak. It felt like [the material] was really, really strong, and I was very happy about it. I think that becoming more involved than I ever have been [in the making of the album] helped me gain confidence and empowered me completely. I took control over what I was going to say, what I was going to do."

When Gomez first released "Lose You to Love Me" and "Look at Her Now," she explained to Ryan Seacrest that they were her last Bieber breakup tracks. (Gomez and Bieber split for the last time after being on-off for nearly 10 years in March 2018; he went on to start dating Hailey Baldwin in June 2018. They got engaged in July 2018 and married in September 2018.)

"These two songs were me wrapping up a chapter in a pretty little bow," she told Seacrest in October 2019. "And the rest of the album is just all about where I am now and where I’m going so in my opinion, these are great songs, but I’ve saved the best for later."