At the end of each year, people all across the world grab their phones to check their Spotify Wrapped, and if you’re an Indian or listen to Bollywood music in general, your Wrapped top 5 actually has only 4 spots because one of them already belongs to the omnipresent Pritam. This man will somehow slither his way into that yearly playlist. Whatever this unappreciated genius does, it works, and after listening to Justin Bieber’s new album Swag, it turns out that the pop musician could take some pointers from our long-bearded Mozart.
Swag has Justin Bieber trying to do everything all at once, and it is not a good look. The theme of the overall album seems to revolve around love, intimacy, and the artiste’s relationship with a higher power, but the lyrics somehow make the songs sound like Boys II Men never knew how to write hits that assisted in the growth of the workforce. Bieber mentions the bed too many times, and every single time he does, it somehow makes even less sense than the last. The idolatry public will still give props to the 31-year-old for speaking his mind and releasing new music while going through challenges in his personal life, as they should, but the album seems disingenuous, and Bieber himself gives proof of that midway into the project.
The first few tracks seem like remixes of each other, but the bass line is precise and catchy (which is something he maintains throughout the album). For some reason in the third track “Yukon”, Justin Bieber’s vocals are pitched up for the entire song; we don’t really hear him singing, which is another problem with this project. Bieber refuses to use his greatest asset, his voice, and we only get glimpses of his vocal prowess during some rare moments where the artiste really seems to be belting his heart out. Throughout the album it seems that Bieber himself doesn’t believe in his best tracks and keeps running away from the sounds that actually work for him, maybe fearing that he will sound slightly like he used to. The first ray of hope in the album is the fifth track, “Things You Do”, where for the first time in the entire project, a song seems beautifully put together. A simple bass track, coupled with a few clicks and a soothing guitar riff. The linear pattern of the song works perfectly for Bieber, but like a Stan doing something new and profound, the singer quickly abandons that sound.
Where some artistes are known to be extremely efficient when it comes to featuring on someone’s song, like J. Cole, Eminem, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber facilitates something completely opposite and rather successfully. Throughout his career, some of his biggest tracks have been born out of collaboration with other artistes such as Ludacris, Usher, Drake, and many more. You expect the same when the track “Way It Is” starts playing, but Gunna drops the ball and then trips on it in the most spectacular way. He raps about the things people accuse rappers of talking about too much, like expensive clothing and cars, and fails to add anything to the almost good song. After a few bumps and bruises, you will move to arguably the best part of this album, tracks 10, 11, and 12.
The first is “Walking Away”, where we hear Justin Bieber layer effortless vocals on an instrumental that seems almost altruistic towards the songs that came before it. The song is complete and content within itself, and Bieber’s genuine love for his partner Hailey shines through. The next track, “Glory Voice Memo”, is the proof I was talking about earlier. The track is an unmastered voice recording of Bieber singing along with a guitar, and it sounds like the perfect marriage between gospel and blues, just as God intended. He channels his inner BB King and Albert King altogether, and this rough scratch of a song is one of the best things you hear him perform. “Devotion” makes up for that Gunna feature, as the subtle and slow tempo of the song takes you on a walk through the artiste’s mind. During that walk, there is a verse-long detour towards Dijon town, as the artiste fits the song like the jigsaw piece you never found after it fell through the sofa. There is no gap between the artistes, and Bieber hands off the mic to Dijon in perfect harmony as the two riff off each other with that addictive John Mayer-like guitar lick playing in the background.
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From there, Justin Bieber again seems to forget his strengths, and the entire second half sounds like songs that you would cut upon reviewing the album. “Sweet Spot” again ruins the feature power of this album with Sexyy Red performing a shallow and unimpressive verse on a song that was already trying so hard to be relevant. “405” is the track that plays in every modern Netflix-produced rom-com that you won’t remember once the protagonists ride off into the sunset. After an underwhelming title track, Bieber kind of brings it back with “Zuma House”, with a Shiloh Dynasty air to him (remember that artiste), while the track “Too Long” seems to describe the album. The last track is a sampled and edited version of the popular gospel song “Lord, I Lift Your Name High” by Praise Band 1 from Maranatha! Music.
Listen to Justin Bieber’s album Swag:
The vision of the project is very clear, with all worthwhile songs focusing on Justin Bieber’s relationship with his family and God. It’s a good theme to have, and just like the Bhakti and Sufi movements, it plays with the line of praising your god like you are praising your loved one. The only problem arises when Bieber himself seems to forget his vision and starts layering too much sound while trying to say nothing. The irony of the album is that the tracks that seem the most linear in nature are the ones that truly shine through; they give an insight into the mind of a broken artiste trying to heal and succeeding in his quest to do so. At least it proves that Bieber hasn’t lost his sound or his effortless charm; he just needs to stick to it, just like Pritam, and all will be 2015 again.
