Justin Bieber – Changes (2020)

At this present moment, the world is going through a bad stage. But hey, at least new music is being released. After no full-length album was released by Justin Bieber for five years, he finally released this album, Changes. A lot of time has passed, but still, Justin Bieber has become the most popular artist of today.

Is it worth a listen? Let’s dive in and do so.

All Around Me begins this album. It sounds almost ethereal musically. It’s 2020 sounding alright, and sounds as though Justin Bieber has changed a bit too. It’s a love song with unusual sounding guitar sort of sounds layered underneath Justin Bieber’s vocals. Not a bad start to the album.

Habitual is up next. It is likely about his second marriage and the experiences based around it. The recording sounds expensive, and it is a nice listen overall. So far, so good. The reference to being habitual is about doing things in gratitude for a lover.

Next is Come Around Me is a piece about love or sex. Either way, it’s a stripped back and listenable piece and it delivers. The future of music is here, and the songs here are surprisingly good. The structure of this music is incredibly simple and features some interesting sonic twists and turns. Good tune. It fades out gently.

Next is the hit single Intentions (feat. Quavo). You can hear why it is a really good and structured effort. It’s gentle and relaxing listening from Justin Bieber. It’s about the things lovers share. Quavo’s appearance fits quite well here too. “Picture perfect, you don’t need no filter,” – a great statement by Justin Bieber.

Another hit single, Yummy, is next. It’s semi-psychedelic in some parts, which is interesting. The fact that much of the song has some beautiful and subtle tweaking of every element of it is very interesting. It’s rather catchy too.

Available is the next song. It begins with an almost gospel vocal patch before Justin Bieber begins singing about commitment to a lover. Many romantic concepts are explored in the lyrics here. The singing by Justin Bieber is great too, even if you do not listen to the lyrics easily. Good stuff.

Forever (feat. Post Malone and Clever) begins with an interesting electronic patch, then goes straight into singing. It talks about the difficulties of a relationship at hand and how Justin Bieber wants to deal with it. The guest appearances aren’t great, unfortunately. The rest of the song is good though. The end is freaky.

Next is Running Over (feat. Lil Dicky) is another electronic stripped back tune. It’s hard to know if Justin Bieber is still doing drugs or not, but in any case, it sounds a little trippy in an EDM sense. Excellent work. Lil Dicky’s appearance is better than you’d expect, with some rather interesting lyrics. Worth a listen.

After that, we arrive at Take It Out On Me. It’s another deep sounding pop song. Some of the sounds on this recording are really super good and unique. It may be about relationship issues at hand but still sounds very listenable. Justin Bieber obviously does care about being in love, in the best sense possible. Nice.

Second Emotion (feat. Travis Scott) is a bit busier sounding piece from main man Justin Bieber. It has great vocals very quickly delivered, almost rap-like except Justin Bieber sings very well too. The guest appearance is not good at all, too many collaborations can spoil the listening experience here. Let’s hope than Justin Bieber remembers not to do this again on the next album.

Get Me (feat. Kehlani) starts with some percussive electronic sounds. It’s slow, but not boring and really danceable here. It is a little too basic, however, and more textures should have been added here. The guest appearance is a bit better this time around. A nice listen though.

Next is E.T.A. which begins with some Fender Stratocaster sort of sounds, which is totally surprising. It’s a nice song about waiting impatiently for a lover. It sounds laidback and majestic, a beautiful and nice touch from Justin Bieber and crew. Subtle, yet good.

The title track Changes is devotional self-expression by Justin Bieber about his life. He acknowledges past failings in life, hence the song title. It talks deeply about the struggles in love and life, not a bad sentiment. The quote at the end is brilliant.

Confirmation is a nice song with handclaps and piano to boot. It does sound nice. This album is not dull in any sense, at least not compared to Purpose. A lovely and touching song.

That’s What Love Is may be about Justin Bieber’s Christian beliefs, but has a wonderful picked acoustic guitar. It is a laidback, road trip sort of tune. Good to hear, and a welcome variance on the semi-EDM songs that Justin Bieber does. Simple – yet excellent.

The next song is At Least For Now. It’s a good pop song with some violin electric guitar sounds in the background. It’s less musical, more a statement overall. The yodelling part in the song is pretty cool. Nice.

Lastly, we have the Yummy – Summer Walker Remix is a good remix of the original. It sounds very well done. The album finishes here.

This album is very good but falls a little short of being a great one. Still, the time in limbo was not wasted by Justin Bieber. He is back on top now, and with the new decade, his future shines bright. If you want a good place to begin with the latest music, start here.

7/10