After a five year hiatus since his last album, Justin Bieber returns with a new perspective on love
Justin Bieber picked up right where he left off with the release of his new album “Changes,” coaxing listeners into the perfect mood for Valentine’s Day. With excellent features from artists such as Post Malone and Travis Scott, Bieber shows off his ability to perform in various genres.
Though a project with 17 songs could easily become redundant, this piece leaves the audience captivated from start to finish. With “Come Around Me” showcasing his mature side and flexing his vocals in “That’s What Love Is,” Bieber shakes any doubt that he has regressed since his last album.
The sophisticated sound of his new album shows the growth that has happened in Bieber’s life since his last project, “Purpose.” The struggles he has been through this past decade include drug abuse, troubles with law enforcement and bitter heartbreaks that left him with a jaded outlook at life.
Bieber emerged from rock bottom to find a sense of stability with his health and faith. He is no longer the teenage popstar singing about crushes; he is now a young man who is navigating marriage.
Bieber shows off his new mature side with smooth R&B songs dedicated to his wife in the start of the album with songs like, “Habitual,” “Come Around Me” and “Available.” It was easy to see that Justin Bieber is in a new season of life when he wrote “Changes.” From singing about about a love that always seemed to fail in past songs, such as “Love Yourself” and “Sorry” to proclaiming in his latest work, “My love for you’s habitual/Not for a moment, but forever/ Know it sounds untraditional/Never ungrateful for it/ That’s how we both want it/can’t nobody keep me like you.”
“All Around Me,” the opening track for the album, does an excellent job of setting the tone for the rest of the project with Bieber’s vulnerable declaration: “Never thought I could ever be loyal/ To someone other than myself.” It is clear to see that his perspective on love has grown along with his craft, as his lyrics are evidence that his feelings are beyond infatuation.
Bieber doesn’t completely abandon his pop roots either, enlisting rapper Lil Dicky on “Running Over” to create a lighthearted track about love. Lil Dicky provides a hilarious contrast to Bieber’s crooning chorus of “Thought love at first sight was just a false pretense/Took my hat off, made me pledge allegiance/ Everything was in divine sequence,” with his laid back verse, “I got all up on your IG and was scrolling’ down for hours/I got back to 2015 and you started looking’ young, so I stopped.”
After ten tracks, Bieber switches the mood back to a more serious tone with the song “Get Me” featuring Kehlani. With both artists showing off their insane vocal range, this song captures the feeling of compatibility lyrics exclaiming, “Ooh, there’s so much chemistry /Like a chemist, how you finishin’ my sentences /In the center, no, we can’t deny this energy.”
Finally in “That’s What Love Is,” it’s clear to see the genuine love Bieber has for his wife. With a beautiful acoustic guitar backdrop paired with a heart melting chorus that declares, “I reach out to you, but my hands can’t hold enough/Enough of your greatness /You teach me patience /Like the best of our worlds collide /Never understood what it meant /It meant to submit to love /So beyond what lust is.”
Justin Bieber’s new project was well worth the wait. Through the years, his fans, who grew up alongside Bieber, are able to relate as they listen to his albums and go through similar struggles with him. This album is a great listen for those who are transitioning into adulthood. Bieber does a great job of showing that love gets more complicated as we get older because it requires sacrifice, dedication and forgiveness.