Justin Bieber made information on Friday when he dropped a shock album referred to as Swag. It’s his first album in additional than 4 years.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
All proper. The artist Justin Bieber is not any stranger to controversy. Since catapulting to fame as a tween within the early 2000s, the Canadian pop star has made as many headlines about his movie star antics as he has about his massive hits like “Sorry” and “Peaches.” And on Friday, he made information once more when he dropped a shock album referred to as “Swag.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ALL I CAN TAKE”)
JUSTIN BIEBER: (Singing) And it is all I can take. All I can…
CHANG: It’s his first album in additional than 4 years after his report “Justice” in 2021. NPR music editor Hazel Cills joins us now to speak about Bieber’s new album. Hello, Hazel.
HAZEL CILLS, BYLINE: Hello. Thanks for having me.
CHANG: Oh, thanks for being with us. OK, I’m undoubtedly a type of individuals who know far more about Justin Bieber via movie star gossip than via his precise music. Sorry. However what did you consider “Swag”? Like, is that this some massive comeback for him or what?
CILLS: It’s a massive comeback, after which it is also not a giant comeback in lots of methods. For me, probably the most attention-grabbing factor about “Swag,” listening to it, is sort of its sound and its model. Like, Bieber has labored with a ton of very cool artists on this album – singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr., the producer Dijon and particularly this alt-rock star named Mk.gee, actual identify Michael Gordon, who’s all around the album. This album mainly does not sound like a pop album. It is – there’s a number of guitar all through. It actually sort of mixes various rock, you understand, with R&B.
For instance, there is a tune referred to as “Daisies” on it, that includes Mk.gee – top-of-the-line songs on this album, for certain. It is nearly like a throwback Justin Bieber love tune, however there is not any actual sort of bells and whistles. His vocals completely come via. However for that purpose, it is sort of not a comeback report – proper? – as a result of it is, like – it is not an enormous breakthrough. It isn’t like a giant pop banger album. It is a very private album. So I do not essentially see “Swag” as being, like, the sound of the summer time.
CHANG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DAISIES”)
BIEBER: (Singing) Depart me on learn, babe, however I nonetheless get the message. As an alternative of a line…
CHANG: OK, properly, I’ve to get again to the gossip as a result of we’re all listening to about how his marriage to Hailey Bieber, the mannequin, might be on the rocks. So does he get at that on this album? I am so curious.
CILLS: Actually, he undoubtedly does. I imply, the factor about “Swag” that is actually attention-grabbing is it is actually an album about Justin Bieber’s marriage and about him being, you understand, a household man. You understand, he is 31 now. He is a father. He isn’t a teen heartthrob anymore. And it actually feels like “Swag” is an album that he is sort of made for himself and his household; like, not essentially for his followers or type of what the business would possibly count on from him. He is actually sort of doubling down on the energy of his marriage, perhaps in response to that sort of tabloid fodder.
You understand, there is a tune on right here referred to as “Strolling Away” the place, you understand, he actually sings – you understand, I believe to Hailey – he sings, like, I made you a promise. I informed you, I would change. And type of talks concerning the rising pains of their marriage. And so there’s lots of songs on this album the place he actually sort of dives into, you understand, what his marriage is like and actually how sturdy it truly is.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WALKING AWAY”)
BIEBER: (Singing) Child, I ain’t strolling away. And each time you do not say my identify…
CHANG: OK, so so much on this album about Justin Bieber the household man, however what about all of the controversy in the previous few years with respect to his profession? As a result of, like, he canceled his final tour in 2023. Does he course of that on this album as properly?
CILLS: He undoubtedly does course of that on his album. You understand, Bieber has made some very attention-grabbing profession strikes in the previous few years – break up from his longtime supervisor Scooter Braun in 2023. He additionally bought the rights to his catalog for greater than 200 million. And I hear a wearier model of Bieber on this album. I hear somebody who’s type of drained with the business. I hear that particularly on a tune referred to as “Butterflies,” the place Bieber sort of sings about, you understand, all the time shifting, all the time hustling. And I actually hear an artist who’s taking inventory of his place within the music business.
CHANG: That’s NPR music editor Hazel Cills. Thanks a lot, Hazel.
CILLS: Thanks.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BUTTERFLIES”)
BIEBER: (Singing) Mixture of ache and pleasure, by no means black and white. ‘Trigger the solar retains shining…
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