Country songs by Dwight Yoakam, Maren Morris and Shawna Thompson blend old and new

TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Tonya Mosley, and I recently had the chance to check out the movie "Emilia Perez," the new Spanish-language musical that stars my guest today, Selena Gomez. The film is centered on a lawyer named Rita - played by Zoe Saldana - who is kidnapped and tasked with helping a ruthless Mexican cartel leader secretly undergo gender-affirming surgery to begin a new life as Emilia Perez. Selena Gomez plays Jessi Del Monte, the wife of the cartel leader, who knows nothing about her husband's transition and is led to believe that Emilia Perez is a distant cousin. The film is almost entirely in Spanish, and Gomez, who grew up speaking it but lost fluency, took lessons to prepare for the role. Here she is singing a stirring performance of "Bienvenida," which means welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "EMILIA PEREZ")

SELENA GOMEZ: (As Jessi Del Monte, singing in Spanish).

MOSLEY: That's Selena Gomez singing in the new Netflix movie musical "Emilia Perez." As an ensemble, Gomez along with Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon, who portrays both Emilia Perez and the cartel leader before she transitions, won the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize for Best Actress. Selena Gomez is an actor, singer and the founder of the successful cosmetic line Rare Beauty. She began acting in 2002 at 10 years old on the television series "Barney & Friends." She went on to star in several Disney shows before her breakout role in the series "The Wizards Of Waverly Place."

As a musician, she's had 16 consecutive Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the longest active run of any artist, and she's the most followed woman on Instagram. We talked about some of her struggles with such a high level of fame and her diagnosis of Lupus and bipolar disorder. Gomez was nominated for an Emmy Award for her role in the mystery comedy series "Only Murders In The Building," alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. Selena Gomez, welcome to FRESH AIR.

GOMEZ: Thank you. That was such a lovely introduction.

MOSLEY: I was wondering - you spent was it nearly half a year training, preparing for this role, learning Spanish? You actually grew up speaking Spanish until something happened. It took a turn...

GOMEZ: Yeah.

MOSLEY: ...Where you weren't speaking it anymore.

GOMEZ: I was fluent when I was 7, and before then, all up until then. But I got my first job at 7, and most of my jobs from that point on were English. And I moved from Texas to California to pursue my dream with Disney. And I, again, just lost it. You know, and that's kind of the case for a lot of people, especially Mexican American. I think, you know, my cousins and people in our lives, it's so dominated by English-speaking people, which is fine. But I wish I had had more. I wish I just knew a lot more than I do. But I think that's why I try to honor my culture as much as possible from releasing an album in Spanish to, you know, wanting to pursue this movie that I thought would be an incredible challenge. And I don't think it'll be the last thing I do in Spanish.

MOSLEY: Do you feel more fluent in it now?

GOMEZ: I do. Don't try to talk anything around me because I will know what you're saying...

MOSLEY: (Laughter).

GOMEZ: ...If you think that I can't. I just have a hard time responding sometimes to, like, form the sentence correctly.

MOSLEY: Right, because even though you weren't speaking it, did you feel like you could understand it when you heard other folks speak it?

GOMEZ: Completely.

MOSLEY: Yeah.

GOMEZ: You know, Spanish is one of the most beautiful languages. And the inflections and the melody behind how they speak, it's very telling. And it's a very emotional language, I think.

MOSLEY: Let's talk a little bit about the themes in the movie. She's looking for freedom because she's married to this very brutal drug kingpin, and so all the things that go along with that life. She has two children by him. It's not explicitly said, but it seems as if maybe she got married when she was very young to him.

GOMEZ: Yeah, that's correct.

MOSLEY: There's a transformation with your husband from male to female, but there's also a transformation of this character. She's like a dormant volcano of a wife, and we watch her as she goes through. And I want to play a clip. And this clip I'm about to play, it's several years after her husband has had the transition. She thinks he's dead. She goes back to Mexico, and she connects with a man who really is the love of her life. And in this scene, the two of you, this man - you and this man, you all are in a club. And you're singing the song "Mi Camino." Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "EMILIA PEREZ")

GOMEZ: (As Jessi, singing in Spanish).

MOSLEY: That's my guest, Selena Gomez, singing the song "Mi Camino" in the musical film "Emilia Perez." OK, Selena, this is a liberation song.

GOMEZ: It is. It's so beautiful. I'm so proud of it.

MOSLEY: The words, I'm going to read a little bit of the words in English.

GOMEZ: Yes, please.

MOSLEY: If I fall into the ravine, it's my ravine. If I double the pain, it's my pain. If I send myself to the seventh heaven, it's my heaven. If I lose my way, it's still mine. I want to love myself.

It's a liberation song. And to me, without, like, being too sappy about it, I feel like it sounds familiar to your life path. Do you see that?

GOMEZ: (Laughter) Yeah, actually, I do. It was one of the most emotional songs that I got to record during the process of shooting this movie. And I remember just singing it and thinking to myself this could've been my song, you know? This could've been a, you know, me song on an album I would put out personally because it's so well-said. And it feels very true to who I am, to where I am. I think that when I do make mistakes, I don't feel like I should or necessarily need to be punished for them. It's something that I feel like I need to grow and learn from. And I think that sometimes there's been moments in my career where people weren't allowing me to grow up, weren't allowing me to make choices that, you know, wasn't exactly what they thought I should be doing.

MOSLEY: Acting, as you said, has always been your first love. We're going to get into some things like, I can't believe "Girl, Interrupted" is one of the first films you saw. Like, what?

GOMEZ: I'm sorry, mom.

MOSLEY: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

GOMEZ: Sorry, mom. Yeah, no, my mom was - you know, she was so just - I just remember feeling like she was the coolest person ever. She's still cool. But as a kid, I looked up to her so much.

MOSLEY: But she kind of was - I mean, she was 16 when she had you, so she was a young mom. She was a young, cool mom.

GOMEZ: Oh, yeah, we were like sisters...

MOSLEY: Yeah.

GOMEZ: ...In a way. And she loved everything about art. And I remember sometimes she would let me watch things, but she would do the old, cover your, you know, ears and eyes.

MOSLEY: Yeah.

GOMEZ: Like, be careful. And so, yeah, she was young. Maybe I shouldn't have watched some of the things I did. However, I think I fell in love with it for the right reasons. It was a whole range of different styles. And we'd watch, you know, French films, or we'd watch anything that kind of sparked something in my mom. And she would explain things to me, and I would always ask questions. And I was inquisitive about the work, and it wasn't just an experience for me. I wanted to know everything. And I think that's where it kind of stemmed from.

MOSLEY: Do you remember the first time you were onstage, your first performance?

GOMEZ: Yeah. The funny thing is I wasn't in any school plays necessarily. I was 7 when I auditioned for "Barney," which is the big purple dinosaur, if people don't remember. But I was in line. It was 1,400 kids, and it was in Texas. And I waited in line for a while, and I just thought, here's my chance. I could do something really cool.

MOSLEY: You thought that in the moment. Yeah.

GOMEZ: Yeah. I just thought, this is something I really want to do, and I hope I get it. And I went to three rounds of callbacks. They were very serious about "Barney" back in the day. And I got the part. And it would have to be the first time I stepped foot on the set of "Barney." It was magical, not to mention I'm 7. And they make it for kids. You know, they make it this beautiful experience, and the sets are gorgeous. And I just got the bug immediately. I had school there as well - a bunch of kids I got to grow up with. And at the same time, maybe Barney taught me how to clean and how to say I love you.

MOSLEY: Right because you're taking in all the lessons that you all are teaching us, too.

GOMEZ: Totally.

MOSLEY: Acting is your first love. Music is also what you are known for worldwide - huge fan base. You've called it a hobby that kind of got out of control.

GOMEZ: Yeah. And I think I need to correct that because I think whenever I do interviews that are written, I think it's very challenging for me because it gets a little misunderstood. Music is going to forever be a part of my soul. I was named after a Tejana singer. My dad was a DJ. My mom listened to Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Patsy Cline, you know, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt. Like, I grew up around music in every genre.

So what I meant by that was it did kind of, you know, take over for a while. And it's not that I was upset or bothered by it. It was more so that I had missed and I was really craving something different. So I think that may have gotten a little, you know, confusing because it doesn't - you know, to me, when I hear that, it makes me seem ungrateful, but it's not. So I'm glad you brought that up because, you know, that is something that I love deeply. I just really missed being on a set and creating content that had nothing to do with me.

MOSLEY: Let's take a short break. If you're just joining us, my guest is Selena Gomez. She stars in the new movie "Emilia Perez." We'll continue our conversation after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF SIDDHARTHA KHOSLA'S "PILOT ENDING")

MOSLEY: This is FRESH AIR. And today I am talking to Selena Gomez. She stars in the new musical film "Emilia Perez" as Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a cartel leader who secretly undergoes gender-affirming surgery to begin a new life as Emilia Perez.

Well, for those who don't watch it, "Only Murders In The Building," the Hulu series, is centered on you, Martin Short and Steve Martin. You guys are a trio of residents in this really beautiful Upper West Side apartment building called the Arconia. And you set out to investigate a string of murders in the building and start a true crime podcast to chronicle the investigation. Martin Short has said, like, in all of the interviews just how much fun you guys have on the set. He alludes it to being kind of exceptional in that way. What makes it fun?

GOMEZ: Well, first off, Steve Martin and Martin Short are legends in their own right.

MOSLEY: Yes.

GOMEZ: And it is very difficult to keep a straight face when you're talking to them about anything because they simply exude and radiate comedy, if that makes sense.

MOSLEY: How do you do it? - 'cause you're the straight man of the three.

GOMEZ: I know. But, I mean, I just have to - I got to get through it. You know, once we do the table read and they'll chime in, it is challenging. But I think the best part of "Only Murders" is the environment. And I think that's what Marty is referring to because these two actors, who have been working longer than I've been alive, are always on time, could not be more compassionate and kind to everyone, class-act intelligence. Their humor is smart and wise. And they'll sit down and talk to, you know, our camera guy and ask how his daughter's doing. And it just, to me, was a very good place for me to start back into acting. It just was safe, and it was so fun. And they made it feel like it was - they just made it feel like it was home.

MOSLEY: How did the role come about for you?

GOMEZ: So Steve came up with the idea himself, not about me. He originally wanted the show to be three comedians, three guys. And John Hoffman came in, who's the co-creator, and said, I have this idea, this maybe unconventional, you know, relationship or friendship that these, you know, people care about. So what if we had, you know, like, a 28-year-old? And Steve, you know, was, like, well, let me know your ideas or whatever, you know, you're thinking. And John got on a call with me. And I had told him how much I, you know, will watch "48 Hours," or with my mom, I'd watch, you know, "Forensic Files" or - and I...

MOSLEY: Oh, OK. You're into the true crime stuff.

GOMEZ: I think that he...

MOSLEY: Yeah.

GOMEZ: It was music to his ears. And he was very genuine and sweet. And after the call, they offered me the part.

MOSLEY: I want to play a clip from Season 1. So you all live in the same apartment, and you don't really know each other that well, but you're starting to come into this idea that something really fishy is happening. Here, your character, Mabel, is joining the two others in Oliver's apartment. And Oliver is played by Martin Short, and Charles is played by Steve Martin. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING")

STEVE MARTIN: (As Charles-Haden Savage) Oh. How did you get here?

GOMEZ: (As Mabel Mora) It was open.

MARTIN SHORT: (As Oliver Putnam) I don't lock my door - never have.

MARTIN: (As Charles-Haden Savage) That's insane.

SHORT: (As Oliver Putnam) Neighborly.

GOMEZ: (As Mabel Mora) I mean, a murderer probably lives in the building, but I guess old white guys are only afraid of colon cancer and societal change - sad.

MARTIN: (As Charles-Haden Savage) A murderer doesn't probably live in the building. A murderer definitely lives in the building. Lester checked all the security footage, and no one unknown to him came in or out during the hours around Tim's murder.

SHORT: (As Oliver Putnam) Isn't that great for the podcast?

MARTIN: (As Charles-Haden Savage) So, Mabel, tell us. Did you learn anything from the online world of Tim Cono?

GOMEZ: (As Mabel Mora) He didn't post much in his online world. He seems to have had a really sad, quiet life.

MARTIN: (As Charles-Haden Savage) You checked all the websites.

GOMEZ: (As Mabel Mora) Yep, all the websites.

MARTIN: (As Charles) Well, we've exhausted the internet.

MOSLEY: That's my guest, Selena Gomez, with Martin Short and Steve Martin in the very popular Hulu series "Only Murders In The Building." Selena, there's such a tenderness to your relationships with those guys that seems like it's only grown over the seasons. I was watching - I think I saw you and Martin Short on a TV show recently, and you were showing him how to put on makeup from your Rare Beauty line.

GOMEZ: Yeah.

MOSLEY: And it felt natural and connected, like you all are - are you friends?

GOMEZ: Yes. And it's an absolute joy. They'll joke and laugh and say, oh, we didn't know what to expect when we met Selena. But I don't know. By the first week of us working together, they really took me under their wing. They didn't make me feel separate because I was younger. They made me feel incredibly included. If they would change a joke or want to try something different, they would always incorporate me into the conversation. And they respected me. And I felt safe.

You know, these are gentlemen that want nothing from me but to have a great experience at work and create bonds with everybody onset. And they disarm people by their kindness. So, yeah, I've done interviews or I've been upset on days of, you know, working if I had got bad news, and they're protective. They listen. They give great advice. That's something I'll cherish. It could have been totally different. It could have been, you know, hard to connect, but they are genuinely wonderful people. And it's just been a huge blessing 'cause - I get emotional thinking about it 'cause I really do love them, and they care about me a lot.

MOSLEY: Meryl Streep starred in Season 3, and you mentioned how in awe you were those first days on the set. What did you learn working with her?

GOMEZ: Oh, class act, absolute class act. I always tell the story about her because I think it just sums who she is up really well. She was on set, and because, of course, she's Meryl, we wanted to shoot her out so that she would have a shorter day out of respect for her and her schedule. So we would shoot her scenes, and then, you know, we could say, OK, you can go home. And someone would, you know, replace her, and they would do the other actors. She refused. She said, no, I'm staying for all the actors.

And it was probably 13 hours that she was on that set, and the camera wasn't on her once. And she was thrilled to be there. She was so, like, communicative to everyone. She would walk around barefoot, humming music, listening to folk music. She doesn't take herself too seriously. You know, she's - something - she wrote a comment about something that said that she was overrated, and she laughed. And she goes, well, maybe they're right. You know, like, she just has a good sense of humor about the icon that she is. And she doesn't look at herself that way. And I like that.

MOSLEY: Our guest today is Selena Gomez. We'll be right back after a short break. I'm Tonya Mosley, and this is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF SIDDHARTHA KHOSLA'S "MABEL AND TIM")

MOSLEY: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Tonya Mosley. And today my guest is Selena Gomez. She stars in the new Spanish-language musical "Emilia Perez" as Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a cartel leader who secretly undergoes gender-affirming surgery to begin a new life as Emilia Perez.

Selena Gomez is an actor, singer and the founder of the successful cosmetic line Rare Beauty. She began acting in 2002 on the television series "Barney And Friends." And she went on to star in several Disney shows before her breakout role in the series "The Wizards Of Waverly Place," playing the lead as Alex Russo. As a musician, she's had 16 consecutive top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the longest active run of any artist. And she's also founded the beauty line Rare Beauty and stars in the mystery comedy series "Only Murders In The Building" alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short.

You're 32 years old, right?

GOMEZ: Yes.

MOSLEY: And you have so many firsts. And your first not only - I mentioned the Billboard 100. You also were one of the 10 highest-paid children TV stars of all time.

GOMEZ: Oh, dear. I don't even think I've read that.

MOSLEY: Oh, that one's not on your list of, like, your firsts. But your role on the Disney show, "Wizards Of Waverly" - I got the sense from your 2022 documentary, "My Mind And Me," that you have kind of a complicated relationship with your Disney years, that it made you feel like a product. In what ways did it feel like that?

GOMEZ: I think during the period I was shooting the documentary, the context of what I felt was unfair is that I don't regret or dislike Disney. I think Disney gave me my platform, and I will forever owe them for that because I was able to do incredible things - doesn't mean that I wasn't frustrated with other people willing to ask me more in-depth questions to just write me off because I was that. So my frustration has not necessarily ever been with Disney. It's just been with the idea that people would not take anything I was saying not seriously. If it was me talking about philanthropy, if it was me wanting to talk about something important, it was, do you like marshmallows? And, you know, so you were on Disney, and it's, like, they just - it just felt so crippling.

And I, at that point when I shot the documentary, hadn't moved on into doing other things. So I just was a little frustrated. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm 32, and now I'm doing a reunion of "Wizards Of Waverly Place." And I'm back, and I'm proud, and - you know? So it was never really that. It was just more people not talking to me.

MOSLEY: What do you think you might have been if you didn't go into acting?

GOMEZ: I'm not sure. I really - every time someone asks me that, I get so perplexed because I was so young when I started. So I don't even know what I would have figured out what that looks like. I have an 11-year-old sister, and I could not be more proud of the fact that she is, like, I don't know what I want to do yet, sissy. And I'm like, OK. That's great. You don't have to know right now. You can explore. She's just adventurous, and she's able to be a kid. And I love that. I admire that. For me, I'm not sure what I would have done. There wasn't many opportunities where I came from. I'm very proud of where I came from, but I'm not sure. I guess I'm really not sure what I would have done.

MOSLEY: Grand Prairie, Texas - how would you describe it?

GOMEZ: It's a very little, simple town. Like, they still have the same diner there that my uncle used to go to and the park that I was able to walk to on my own. The neighborhood - I still know the neighbors that have lived there their whole life. I love it. It's just - for me, my mom wanted me to show me that there were more things in the world, and I'm really grateful for that.

MOSLEY: I had a chance to talk with Tyler James Williams a few months ago, another child actor who has gone on to do great things. And like you, he says, like, he really couldn't imagine himself doing anything else in life. From a very young age, he knew that was what he wanted. But he also talked about some of the dark sides of being a child actor. And he survived because of his parents...

GOMEZ: Yeah.

MOSLEY: ...He says. He feels like, though, this is an industry that is not really for children...

GOMEZ: Right.

MOSLEY: ...That it eats them up and spits them out. You have been able to have a successful career. And he finds, I just want to say, like...

GOMEZ: Yeah.

MOSLEY: He said he thinks that anyone who has come out of it whole is a success even if you're not in show business. And...

GOMEZ: I like that. That's very nice.

MOSLEY: Yeah. I want to know how you feel about that because it seems that folks like Tyler have a complicated relationship with even the use of children in Hollywood.

GOMEZ: Yeah. I mean, I think my perspective goes both ways. You know, I think that there is a point in your life where you have to just - you have to let yourself be a kid. And I think the dark sides that, you know, I would reflect on is the fact that I couldn't have a private life. I couldn't necessarily do things because I was held to a specific standard of, like, you know, I'm a Disney kid, and children look up to me. And all of that stuff was really difficult.

I just - I don't want to necessarily - I guess I'm just trying to think about this 'cause I know that there are incredible actors that have come out of this whole industry. But I think you can say that about anything sometimes. I guess what I'd say is I am actually glad that my sister doesn't want to do that right now, at least. I just think it is pretty dangerous. You're around adults. People say things. People, you know, do things that maybe you just shouldn't be exposed to.

And the moment I first started experiencing fame, it wasn't something that I thought was cool. It got really, you know, weird for me. It felt uncomfortable. I remember being 15 at the beach with my family. And it was one of the first times there were, like, five grown men taking photographs of me coming out of the water. And I was sitting there, and my stepdad got really upset because something seems extremely wrong with that. I'm underage, and - so just to me, that's the stuff that I don't think is right. And I just - it threw me off for a bit.

MOSLEY: But it sounds like your mother, your family protected you.

GOMEZ: They did. And here's the thing. My parents did the best with what they got. And they were 16 and 15, and they did their best. And it wasn't always perfect, but they, especially my mom and my stepdad, specifically made sure that they held up these boundaries that sometimes I'd get mad at. But they were necessary.

You know, for example, you're inviting kids to this beautiful premiere. And they're walking the carpet and experiencing all this attention, and that can be overwhelming. Then we have the afterparty. And that's when kids can come and all the adults start drinking, and all this stuff starts going on. At a very young age, my mom said, you're there to walk the carpet for your job, but then you're going home. And I'd always say, well, they're going to stay, and my other friend's going to stay. And she said, you're not old enough. When you're old enough, you'll go to the parties and have all the fun, but right now you're going home. And you can invite a friend over and just be - watch a movie. You know, I do have to say she was very good at that stuff and - sorry; I'll just add - and in rooms. My mom never let me go into any room without her.

MOSLEY: You mean like an audition room or a room to practice or a room...

GOMEZ: Room for, like, meetings.

MOSLEY: Yeah.

GOMEZ: Room for anything - not necessarily auditions, but I did a lot on tape. So - but she was right by the door. You know, my mom was very protective of me in the best possible way. And though maybe it didn't make much sense to me then, I could not be more grateful now.

MOSLEY: Yeah. Let's take a short break. If you're just joining us, my guest Selena Gomez. She stars in the new movie "Emilia Perez." We'll continue our conversation after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAMILLE'S "DESIRE")

MOSLEY: This is FRESH AIR. And today I am talking to Selena Gomez. She stars in the new musical film "Emilia Perez" as Jessi Del Monte, the wife of a cartel leader who secretly undergoes gender-affirming surgery to begin a new life as Emilia Perez.

I'd like to talk with you just a moment about your journey to understanding your mental health. Can you talk to us about what that journey was like? - because you were also dealing with the lupus diagnosis. And so it's you growing into yourself as an adult.

GOMEZ: Right.

MOSLEY: A lupus diagnosis and then a bipolar diagnosis.

GOMEZ: Yeah. Well, they both actually didn't happen at the same time. I was about 16 or 17, maybe, or 18 - I'm sorry; it's one of those three - when I found out that I had lupus. And I had to do - I was in the ICU for a few weeks, and then I had to undergo a slight chemotherapy for a while, a couple of months. And by the grace of whatever you believe, I was able to put it in remission. So I will always have lupus, but it is in remission, thankfully.

But it wasn't necessarily that that fixed everything. It definitely fixed my health. I'm so grateful for doctors. I'm so grateful for people that, you know, can do things for us. So my body was feeling great. But I was still just so confused as to why I had all these things and I wasn't happy. I understood that I had circumstances that made me unhappy. But I knew deep down that I was feeling things intensely, way too high and way too low. And, you know, I've always been really open about it. And it didn't take me overnight to find out what it was. You know, you have to give yourself time to understand and work with people that maybe understand it more and get second opinions.

And so I would say my diagnosis was actually a huge relief. I felt so much better because how I would, you know, go through these emotions were really painful. And when I figured out, you know, it wasn't like it solved everything. But I was able to navigate how to pursue my life, and I immediately felt relief. So I know people may think, oh, that's scary. That means she's crazy. To me, that gave me answers, and that knowledge gave me freedom. And then now I am being treated for all of it, and I feel completely levelheaded. I feel happy when I need to, and, of course, I get emotional. And I'm really grateful I found my balance.

MOSLEY: There was a moment where you felt like you needed to stop for a moment in your career, where you needed to take a break to try to really figure out. Can you talk a little bit about those times when you knew you needed to seek help outside of yourself? I mean, I will just say from personal experience, the thing that's so - I don't want to use the term insidious but, like - about mental health is that, like, you're the only one who's dealing with it. And you're the only one who can help fix it, like, by understanding that you need help.

GOMEZ: Yes. I've never - I think people have to get there on their own because I had people care about me and were concerned and would talk to me, but I didn't see anything. You know, I was - I would avoid it. I think denial and avoiding things is, you know, pretty natural for any human to feel. But I was just tired of feeling that way. And that's what made me seek the help that I wanted and needed and not sure what it was going to look like. So, yeah, it's very terrifying. But I just knew that everybody gets to their place where they really want to change 'cause it's hard. You know, it's hard to feel confused. It's hard to feel hurt. It's hard to feel any of these emotions. But at an intense level, it can be really scary and dangerous. So before anything happened, I was grateful that I said, all right, I'm going to go and I'm going to do the things that, you know, will hopefully help me understand more. And that still took me four years. So even when I sought, you know, help and was able to, you know, meet different doctors and different people, it wasn't until four years of searching that I found my diagnosis and I was properly medicated. And it felt so freeing. So that's why I always encourage people, when they're going through a hard time, to have such patience 'cause it doesn't happen right away. It truly has to be something that you need to dance with for a bit. That's why, in my documentary, I end it by saying, you know, I'm not scared of my bipolar anymore. I'm just making it my friend.

MOSLEY: Selena Gomez, this has been such a pleasure to talk with you.

GOMEZ: Oh, it's been so nice.

MOSLEY: Selena Gomez stars in the new movie "Emilia Perez." Coming up, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews some new country music. This is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:

Rock critic Ken Tucker has been listening to some recent country releases, and he hears some exciting blends of old and new sounds. Country veteran Dwight Yoakam has recorded a harmonious duet with Post Malone. Country superstar Maren Morris is stretching beyond country's borders. And Shawna Thompson - half of the duo Thompson Square - has chosen to look back to the roots of honky-tonk. Ken Tucker reviews them all. Here's Dwight Yoakam with a new song called "A Dream That Never Ends."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A DREAM THAT NEVER ENDS")

DWIGHT YOAKAM: (Singing) It's all right. It's OK if you leave me. If you must go, know that I will understand. But till then I will hope for a dream that never ends. And if I wake, I'll close my eyes and just pretend.

KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: Earlier this year, Post Malone put out his first country album, one in which he gave his hip-hop phrasing a twang that did not seem insincere in duets with a whole passel of country stars. One of those stars was not Dwight Yoakam. Malone's album, called "F-1 Trillion," was pleasant enough, but it didn't have a country song with the rhythmic groove that Yoakam has written for a duet on Dwight's new album, "Brighter Days." It's a very adroit song with a very unwieldy title - "I Don't Know How To Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)." And when Malone's raspy razor of a voice cuts across Yoakam's buttery croon, it achieves a different kind of country harmony.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SAY GOODBYE (BANG BANG BOOM BOOM)")

DWIGHT YOAKAM AND POST MALONE: (Singing) I'd have to lie, it hurts to say, 'cause I don't know how we lost our way. Bang, bang, boom, boom. There's nothing left here now but sadness - bang, bang, boom, boom - and the emptiness of all that's gone. Bang, bang, boom, boom. No sounds but just sorrow and madness. And bang, bang, boom, boom, it's how a broken heart beats on. Come on.

TUCKER: Yoakam's "Brighter Days," his first album of new material in almost a decade, is a wonderful compendium of classic country styles.

Another performer bringing a fresh gloss to old sounds is Shawna Thompson on her new album, "Lean On Neon." Thompson is best known as half of the country duo act Thompson Square, along with her husband, Keifer. Their music tends towards slick country pop. But "Lean On Neon," her solo debut, takes a bracing plunge into the sort of honky-tonk music that was popular before she was born. On the title song, she drowns her sorrows beneath the neon glow of a bar with a different singing partner, the veteran songwriter Jim Lauderdale. And Shawna Thompson's misery is our pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LEAN ON NEON")

SHAWNA THOMPSON AND JIM LAUDERDALE: (Singing) A whiskey glass. A smoke-filled room. Strangers that were hurting too. Misery loves company, I've found. A little joint where you'd never be. What they don't ask ain't hard to see where a good girl goes to drown an old memory. I used to lean on neon when I got down and lonesome. I used to hold a cold one those nights when I had no one. When a jukebox is your only friend, that quarter drops, and a heartache spins. You want to know how I moved on? I used to lean on neon.

TUCKER: If Shawna Thompson wants to dive more deeply into country music, Maren Morris is at a stage in her career where she wants to sort of skate along the surface of it and spin off in a different direction. Morris is a big star who recently has expressed dissatisfaction, becoming vocal about what she terms toxic elements in the Nashville establishment. She has swaddled her angry disenchantment in an irresistible new rhythm for a song called "People Still Show Up."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PEOPLE STILL SHOW UP")

MAREN MORRIS: (Singing) Heroes might disappoint you. Not everyone's going to join you. Don't let the pain destroy you, just go where the arrow points you. Free flow till you feel that rush when people still show up. Yeah, they're going to try and say you really crossed the line, you should've shut your mouth and smiled 'cause now you finally went and said too much. But it was just enough, 'cause people still show up, people still show up.

TUCKER: The lyric of "People Still Show Up" carries the implication that while she may have been advised not to court controversy with her complaints, it won't affect her career as long as - you got it - people still show up to buy her music, to come to her concerts. Unlike Dwight Yoakam and Shawna Thompson, Morris isn't reaching out to hardcore country fans. She's making her appeal to folks outside the genre. I hope that works out for her.

MOSLEY: Ken Tucker reviewed new music by Dwight Yoakam, Maren Morris and Shawna Thompson.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WIDE OPEN HEART")

YOAKAM: (Singing) Hey, saw you looking and could tell what was on your mind. Oh, spinning your wheels doesn't mean you're going to get to drive. You can muscle up, show it off, strut and roll, but that don't mean you got any place to go. Hey, the key to that sweet thing, it ain't on your ring. But if you want to think it is, buddy, go on ahead and dream, 'cause you ain't the first and damn sure won't be the last. I hold the pink slip title with her high heel on the gas. She's got a wide-open heart, tearing up the road. She took my old worn-out luck and plated it in chrome - from a red flag stop to a revved-up rolling start. She's all mine to love, with her wide-open heart.

MOSLEY: Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, Trump versus the media. He's called the media enemies of the people and threatened retribution, including jailing reporters, investigating NBC for treason and suggesting CBS' broadcast license be taken away. We'll talk with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, and Marty Baron, former editor of The Washington Post. I hope you'll join us.

(SOUNDBITE OF AARON GOLDBERG'S "ISN'T THIS MY SOUND AROUND ME")

MOSLEY: To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at @nprfreshair. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our senior producer today is Therese Madden. Our technical director is Audrey Bentham. Our engineer is Adam Staniszewski. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producers are Molly Seavy-Nesper and Sabrina Siewert. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.

(SOUNDBITE OF AARON GOLDBERG'S "ISN'T THIS MY SOUND AROUND ME")

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