Gomez first teased "Fetish" through a short clip which debuted at the end of the music video for her previous single, "Bad Liar". Before the teasing, it was speculated rapper Gucci Mane would appear as the featured artist on a future release, with Mane confirming the collaboration during an interview with 99 Jamzradio station. Gomez followed with several cryptic images tied to the forthcoming song on her Instagram account. The image for the single cover was shot by fashion photographer Petra Collins, who also lensed her artwork for "Bad Liar". It shows Gomez next to a broken-down car carrying paper grocery bags. The single was released to digital music stores in July 13, while an accompanying "playlist video" premiered on Spotify and on her Vevo channel. The audio video features a shot that focuses on her lips while she performs the song. The single was serviced to US contemporary hit radio on July 25.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Fetish" is a trap-pop and alternative R&B ballad that contains a beat that blends R&B and electronic music. Its sound has been also described as alt-pop, "hazy" R&B. Lars Brandle from Billboard perceived the presence of auto-tuned effects in its production. Lyrically, the song explores themes of sexuality and sexual desire, in the chorus Gomez discusses the effect attraction has on a lover, while Mane's verse mentions the chemistry between these paramours, with Gomez's breathy vocals pairing around the beats. A writer from Bustle noted that "Gomez admits that while she totally understands why the object of her affection would be a little addicted to her, even when "I push you out," they come running right back."
Critical reception
"Fetish" received widespread critical acclaim. Mike Wass of Idolator described the song as Gomez's "most scandalous" and "most adventurous" offering yet, stating her transformation into "pop's most experimental princess is all but complete." Wass concluded saying Gomez has "come into her own as an artist, confidently dabbling in sub-genres usually reserved for the alt crowd." XXL writer Peter A. Berry felt the "atmospheric, stripped down" instrumental is "perfect for the bedroom," while Mane's verse "adds an extra layer of dopeness." Time Raisa Bruner called it a "slow-burning, seductive pop song allows Gomez to play with the distinctive textures and rhythms of her voice, developing into a sinuous, alluring track that smartly dispenses with overbearing production, instead focusing in on the star attraction."
Music video
Background and synopsis
The music video was directed by Petra Collins and was released on July 26, 2017. The video opens with three shots of what appears to be Gomez soaking wet with her hair dripping seductively over her face in mirror images then shows Gomez in a pale-yellow dress, carrying bags of groceries similar to the song's cover artwork, on a seemingly normal suburban street, in a role that appears to be a beleaguered housewife, as noted by Stereogum. As the video progresses, Gomez takes part in a range of strange activities. Inside a suburban home, the singer is seen soaking wet in a dining table with water sprinkling as if it is raining, with candles in the scenery. Then she eats soap, finds a broken glass of wine and proceeds to taste one of the broken fragments, puts lipstick over her teeth, ties a rope around her tongue into a bow, inserting her tongue through an eyelash curler and then writhes around on the kitchen floor, while Gucci Mane raps his verse in a smoky lit underground basement. The clip ends with a shot of Gomez smiling inside an industrial freezer.
Reception
Reviewing the clip, Tatiana Cirisano of Billboard felt it "gives off major Virgin Suicides-meets-Wild at Heart vibes." Entertainment Weeklys Nick Romano noted how the image of Gomez's character is "juxtaposed with her sinister obsessions." The video's stylist Stella Greenspan drew references from Nobuyoshi Araki's photography books and Isabelle Adjani's performance in the 1981 filmPossession to achieve a horror-film inspired aesthetic, within a story of a "good girl gone bad". Greenspan told Vogue:
