On his seventh studio album, the young veteran pop star eases into newfound artistic freedom with a little help from his friends.
Despite all the drama swirling around Justin Bieber in the run-up to the release of his new LP, his seventh album, SWAG, finds the pop superstar at ease, satisfied, and confident. It’s the most creatively daring project he’s put together, and features the most interesting group of collaborators, both in terms of featured artists and writers/producers, that he’s worked with since 2015’s Purpose. In his first release since parting ways with his longtime manager Scooter Braun, Bieber sounds untethered from the industry demands that come with being a workhorse for a major label, an icon among a legion of adoring, ravenous fans, and the star client of one of the industry’s most powerful managers.
In the face of marital drama, worries of drug relapse (which his reps have categorically denied), and a general stretch of standing on business, Bieber feels entirely at ease on SWAG, free to make the LP he’s wanted to make. Free of nearly all expectations (it’s fitting that the album arrived as a dramatic surprise), Justin is free to do whatever he feels. And on SWAG, that amounts to a whole lot of vibing and little else.
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Anyone hitting play looking for a bevy of pop smashes will come away disappointed, but the R&B-leaning project is full of memorable melodies and some of the most interesting creative decision-making of Bieber’s career. It’s clear he’s tapped into the alt-pop zeitgeist. Underground luminaries Dijon and Mk.gee (who themselves are frequent collaborators) pop up throughout the album, and Bieber also relies heavily on Carter Lang, celebrated for his recent work with SZA. Those are the obvious sonic touchstones, and the singer is very comfortable sitting in this world.
Opener “ALL I CAN TAKE” sets the stage with its dramatic, airy, 80s-inspired synths. Eddie Benjamin, another producer who features prominently on the project, creates some of the sonics here. It’s one of the more generic-sounding cuts on the album, with Bieber tapping into the soft color palette of Michael Jackson cosplay. His vulnerability shines through almost immediately as he croons, “These symptoms of my sensitivity/ Feels personal when no one’s listening.” It’s clear that SWAG is a platform for these complaints and reflections, a wide-reaching pulpit from which he can finally be heard. It must be lonely to be so famous yet feel so ignored. It’s this feeling that fuels much of the album.
Lighthearted moments come soon after, though, like on “DAISIES,” one of the strongest songs on the album and one that most obviously wears the influence of Bieber’s collaborators. The guitar line, scratchy and DIY, sounds like a b-side from Mk.gee’s 2024 LP Two Star & the Dream Police. Vocally, he puts on his best Dijon karaoke, even down to the desperate half-yelps during the lovesick chorus.
There are plenty of power players who come through on record, not just behind the boards. Gunna turns in a solid verse on the otherwise forgettable “WAY IT IS,” while Druski handles the silly skits littered throughout the project. Bieber opts to look towards the new generation of superstar rappers to help lift this project, recruiting Sexyy Red for “SWEET SPOT” and Cash Cobain on the title track.
“DEVOTION,” which features Dijon, wouldn’t sound out of place on the latter’s Absolutely, as the duo dance around an intoxicating concoction of lounge jazz, folk, and pop. Whoever placed a future bet on a Justin Bieber song featuring pedal steel is very, very rich today.
The most unexpected and understated yet moving moment of the album comes in the form of the unexpected Lil B collab, “DADZ LOVE,” which plays into Lil B’s infectious optimism. Bieber croons over a variation on the Amen break, offering little more than a collage of “dad’s love” phrasings. It’s a slight moment in the grand scheme of the album’s 21 tracks, but it speaks to the world Bieber creates throughout the album.
Whether or not a listener finds these experiments successful is almost beside the point. Here, Bieber sounds at peace with his role in the world; a former child star turned pop icon returning as a stylist with a keen eye for talent. The story here isn’t what Bieber is or isn’t saying, but rather what he’s interested in. Artists like Dijon and Mk.gee are widely considered to be the architects of a new kind of pop music, and whether Bieber is happy to bring their styles into his orbit or forge a new sound as a participant in this scene remains to be seen. But whatever swag Bieber has lost in the past few years has come back in spades on his new LP. He’s got a team by his side, and people are finally listening — respecting his vision for his own career. That seems to be all he’s ever wanted.
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