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 celeb antics as he has about his large 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 file “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 positively a type of individuals who know far more about Justin Bieber by celeb gossip than by his precise music. Sorry. However what did you consider “Swag”? Like, is that this some large comeback for him or what?
CILLS: It’s a large comeback, after which it is also not an enormous comeback in loads of methods. For me, probably the most attention-grabbing factor about “Swag,” listening to it, is form of its sound and its type. 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 title Michael Gordon, who’s all around the album. This album mainly does not sound like a pop album. It is – there’s numerous guitar all through. It actually form of mixes various rock, you understand, with R&B.
For instance, there is a music referred to as “Daisies” on it, that includes Mk.gee – the most effective songs on this album, for certain. It is virtually like a throwback Justin Bieber love music, however there isn’t any actual form of bells and whistles. His vocals completely come by. However for that purpose, it is form of not a comeback file – proper? – as a result of it is, like – it isn’t an enormous breakthrough. It is not like an enormous pop banger album. It is a very private album. So I do not essentially see “Swag” as being, like, the sound of the summer season.
CHANG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DAISIES”)
BIEBER: (Singing) Depart me on learn, babe, however I nonetheless get the message. As a substitute of a line…
CHANG: OK, effectively, 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, could possibly be on the rocks. So does he get at that on this album? I am so curious.
CILLS: Actually, he positively 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 recognize, he is 31 now. He is a father. He is not a teen heartthrob anymore. And it actually appears like “Swag” is an album that he is form of made for himself and his household; like, not essentially for his followers or kind of what the trade would possibly count on from him. He is actually form of doubling down on the power of his marriage, possibly in response to that form of tabloid fodder.
You recognize, there is a music on right here referred to as “Strolling Away” the place, you understand, he actually sings – you understand, I feel to Hailey – he sings, like, I made you a promise. I advised you, I would change. And kind of talks concerning the rising pains of their marriage. And so there’s loads of songs on this album the place he actually form 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 title…
CHANG: OK, so lots on this album about Justin Bieber the household man, however what about all of the controversy in the previous couple of 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 effectively?
CILLS: He positively does course of that on his album. You recognize, Bieber has made some very attention-grabbing profession strikes in the previous couple of years – cut up from his longtime supervisor Scooter Braun in 2023. He additionally offered 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 kind of drained with the trade. I hear that particularly on a music referred to as “Butterflies,” the place Bieber form of sings about, you understand, at all times shifting, at all times hustling. And I actually hear an artist who’s taking inventory of his place within the music trade.
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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