I’m not sure what surprises me more: the sudden release of SWAG itself, or the fact that the album led JB to a career-defining record (95.8 million Spotify streams in a single day; a new personal best). Whatever the case, it’s clear that the pop star is still standing on business, making waves and shattering expectations – and this project may just be his most cohesive in a long time. But the bar was incredibly low with Changes and Justice anyway, and while it’s clear Bieber is passionate about making something adhesive, passion doesn’t always equate to quality.
At its best, this album is clear in its sound, mission and remains confident throughout; at its worst, it’s just diluted SZA with some seriously insipid lyrics. It opens strongly with the sparkly, anthemic ‘ALL I CAN TAKE’ and ‘DAISIES’, the latter featuring slick vocals gliding gorgeously over a punchy bass line. ‘DAISIES’ is the clear standout on this album,, even if it’s a little too reminiscent of Harry Style’s ‘Daylight’, it’s got an upbeat, smiling hook with vocals and lyrics that are genuinely sweet.
The problem is that the rest of these songs start to drown each other out
The album continues its hot streak with ‘YUKON’, a plucky guitar track that sounds like a track off an older Dominic Fike project – it’s layered playfully with some pitched-up vocals, and remains a sharp and fresh sound for JB (even with laughable lyrics like “I pull up like Jimmy Neutron”).
But the album isn’t all as clean – there are these redundant interludes (recordings of JB’s therapy sessions with comedian and actor Druski) that do break up a somewhat lengthy and slightly repetitive project overall. The problem is that the rest of these songs start to drown each other out, and these ‘natural’ interludes (i.e, a humorous voice note at the start, an unexpected recording of a friend dropping some wise words of wisdom) are now often overused across the board. And the type of advice that Druski drops isn’t exactly poignant – he’s just telling Justin to smoke more, or be more Black (whatever that means), and it’s hard to tell if this is meant to be ironic or not (see ‘THERAPY SESSION’ and ‘STANDING ON BUSINESS’).
The worst offenders, and best examples of JB’s uncertain irony and overall uninspired musical creativity are the tracks ‘SWEET SPOT’ and ‘DADZ LOVE’. While the glammed, slightly euphoric beat and chorus from Justin is strong in the former, ‘SWEET SPOT’ features an awful verse by Sexxy Red. It’s unoriginal, lazy, and has the flow and sound of a child reading a poem out loud for the first time – that is, if you’re lucky enough to ignore the obscene lyrics, like “I’m a changed woman, used to be a thot-thot / That’s my boyfriend, I love him a lot (I love you, bae)”.
And while there are some gems that make you feel good, it just isn’t enough
And nothing amplifies the innate, unconditional and newfound love Justin feels for his first-born daughter like a song called ‘DADZ LOVE’ where he sings “It is dad love, it is dad love / That’s love, dad’s love” again and again… and again… while Lil B moans “Yeah!” and “Oh!”, ad-libbing the same banal lyrics JB had just sung moments before. Glad you can’t miss it.
And while the rest of the tracks do tend to blend into one another, WALKING AWAY’ is a refreshing tune in the middle of the album that is both easy to sing along to, and gorgeously driven by JB’s layered vocal harmonies. Sure, ‘DEVOTION’, ‘BUTTERFLIES’, and ‘ZUMA HOUSE’ are pretty and intimate enough to be worth mentioning, but they still lack the direction and substance that’s so evident in the first few tracks.
Overall, this is the type of album you put on in the car, sing along to the first few tracks before losing interest halfway through, and then move onto something else that will really satisfy (again, likely a SZA or Frank Ocean project instead). It’s just too washed down and diluted, and you can feel JB’s passion dwindling halfway through. And while there are some gems that make you feel good – it just isn’t enough. For an album called SWAG, you’d expect something a little cooler than this.
Recommended listening: ‘WALKING AWAY’
Words: Christopher Tang
TrueStyleMusic 