Selena Gomez 'was kind of a mess' while writing 'Lose You To Love Me' but has since healed

It's been about five years since Selena Gomez released an album and there's a good reason for that — she was healing while working on her new project.

In her new album, titled "Rare" (out now), the singer, 27, brings listeners through a journey of moving on and reclaiming independence and strength with plenty of tunes that not-so-subtly hint at her past high-profile relationships.

In an interview Billboard published Tuesday, Gomez talks about what some of the tracks meant to her.

Gomez's single "Lose You To Love Me" transformed in her eyes as time went on. . She noted one of the reasons she waited to release the album was so that she wouldn't be triggered by her songs.

"When I wrote the song 'Lose You to Love Me,' I was kind of a mess. It was really difficult for me. And by the time we shot the music video at the end of the year, it had a completely different meaning, and it was so freeing," Gomez said. "It was actually fun for me – I think, because I let it go, it actually meant that I let it go within myself as well. And I couldn’t have asked for a better way to close a chapter in my life."

In speaking about "Vulnerable," the former Disney star opened up about going to therapy and changing her perspective.

"It is saying, after completely being depleted from life or whatever... I turned bitter for a while. I was extremely bitter and very dry. I was just disconnected to my feelings for so long," Gomez said. "But I go to therapy, I talk about everything that I’m walking through."

She continued: "And I realized it is because one of my strengths, that I thought was a weakness, is being vulnerable. So when we worked on the song, that’s exactly where it started. If I can give you all of myself, are you able to take that, and take care of that? And if you’re not, then I’m still gonna be who I am. I’m just not gonna have you in my life, but I’m gonna continue to be who I am."

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Contributing: Sara Moniuszko