“All you gotta do is swag…” sang Justin Bieber back in 2012 on Out Of Town Girl on the expanded edition of his massively successful commercial album Believe. He really must have meant it. Fast forward to 2025, and amidst a lot of chaos in Justin Bieber’s life, especially relating to his state of mental health and wellbeing, he dropped this album with very little promotion or notice, catching those critics who were concerned (or not) about his erratic behaviour and unusual Instagram posts. It is the seventh studio album by the Pop singer released on Def Jam Recordings on 11 July 2025. Critics quickly analysed the album, with mixed reviews of this release in general, and of course, considering the appeal of Justin Bieber’s music globally, charted in the top 10 of many Billboard charts in countries around the world. The album features a ton of guests (which is normal these days on Pop albums) and is produced by Justin Bieber, Carter Lang, Daniel Caesar, Daniel Chetrit, Dion, Dylan Wiggins, Eddie Benjamin, Eli Teplin, Harv, Knox Fortune and Mk.gee. In other words, a lot of people were involved in this 21-track album, which runs for 54 minutes. Let’s take a listen to this album, and we shall hear if we should believe in the Bieb.

1. ALL I CAN TAKE begins with some horrible sounds and textures that are very 1980s. Justin Bieber sings, and eventually this tune gets going. This actually sounds okay for the guy who has had a negative time dealing with fame and fortune in general, especially as of late. Unfortunately, this tune is indicative of sonic textures and sounds rather than actual musical substance. Still, that is the point about the Bieb. He is not here to break music boundaries. Instead, he is a Pop star, which he always was in the beginning. His voice is so robotic and processed on this tune, which is disappointing to hear. Sure, those of you into the latest and greatest sounds will dig this, but it is nothing phenomenal. Justin Bieber was never going to be massively musically talented, but at least they could take some of the autotune off his voice, for a start. A good song, but not a great song. Very interesting to listen to, however. It ends with some trippy textures.

2. DAISIES is a weird song title for a guy like Justin Bieber. It begins with some naff guitar and bass guitar parts, followed by a sturdy drumbeat. This is drivel with pathetic lyrics. It simply reinforces the whole “celebrity with a laptop” music style that we are all sick to death of by this point in Popular Music history. Justin would sound better if his voice weren’t so treated with electronics. This is a joke of a song, likely devoted to his wife, Hailey. The harmonies are nice, but this is very ordinary music to listen to. This is a disappointing first single release from this album. Nothing hugely special, thank you, next.

3. YUKON follows with some weird, muted funky guitar parts and quickly launches into a piece of music with some high-pitched digital vocals. This may be a more consistent textural album release than anything JB has done since Believe (2012), but it still sounds so mainstream and processed that one cannot help but feel that new music in general is, true to popular opinion, rapidly getting worse. It’s listenable, but not really a repeat listening experience. Good, but certainly missing something.

4. GO BABY begins with an electronic set of textures, and he launches into a song of love for his Mrs. It is difficult to sympathise with Justin Bieber in this set of songs. There are worse examples of music out there, but overall, this is digital music that is designed to sell units, not take a place in your heart and mind. Justin Bieber has had more impressive music moments, and his voice sounds like it has had better days, even with the huge amount of autotune and other digital effects (which he really never needed in the first place). Rather boring a song, to be honest, as well. The lyrics are also very atrocious. This is junk Pop Music, ready to be tossed away by 2026.

5. THINGS YOU DO begins with some more muted guitar parts on a Fender Stratocaster, and has JB singing much more clearly than before. Again, this is the sound of a guy who has had better days in the music scene. This is monotonously sounding drivel. Fortunately, the song length is shorter overall on each track on this album, but there is nothing hugely memorable or wonderful here. It’s okay.

6. BUTTERFLIES begins with the sound of someone demanding money (why?!) and enters into a weird tune about money itself. This is ridiculous lyrically, although one can easily hear the producers attempting to shape up this album into something better from its mediocrity. It’s not the worst, but it is the sound of Justin Bieber digging an isolationist life for himself. The beats are actually quite good on this tune. Sadly, there are no real anthems or songs worth remembering on this album. Instead, there is drivel music that makes zero sense to Justin Bieber fans. A great example of an album that represents why people are not satisfied with mainstream music today. Short, at least.

7. WAY IT IS features Gunna. It sounds very 1980s from the start, and has a horrid sound to it all. Justin Bieber tries and fails to impress the listener with his own romance and his own personal life’s troubles. The fact is that this plastic-sounding music needs a rethink. This sounds no different to any of the Pop Music being released today. Gunna’s appearance is actually good, giving us some relief when listening to this album. This is music designed to make money, not to create an album of artistic merit. This is not going to be most people’s cup of tea. It’s not as bad as other albums today, but yes, this seriously needs a rethink. The piano in the outro is nice, however.

8. FIRST PLACE begins with awkward and murky sounds, launching into a digital tune that sounds weird and unnatural. Justin Bieber’s voice is drenched in autotune, and it is not anything hugely warming or welcoming as a piece of music. No offence, but this music isn’t really that good. It is further proof that in 2025, Pop Music is no longer in general a quality listen. Gone are the days of bands making genuinely good music with natural singing and instrument playing. Instead, this is digital sonic garbage. The music isn’t shockingly bad, just disappointing. One hopes that Justin Bieber isn’t going through a rough spot and that the next album is a lot better than this. The lyrics don’t have clarity or consistency, either.

9. SOULFUL features Druski. It is less than a minute long. It has JB and his guest talking about how good this album is. Seriously, why? These guys just want your money. There is some background music as well to match it.

10. WALKING AWAY begins with some electronic textures, and again, sounds off. Justin Bieber sings okay here, but again, this is nothing overly special to listen to. All in all, Justin needs some help and judging by his social media posts and ongoing rumours online (be they true or not), he needs some help. Now is the time for him to lay off the pitfalls of fame and fortune, and instead focus on making some better music overall. This is enough to send one to sleep, and it literally sounds like that. A poor listening experience, and one hopes that next time, Justin can record a more interesting, consistent and positive-sounding album. This is lacking; it just sounds like drivel. A love song of sorts, but nothing hugely promising to listen to. It ends with handclaps.

11. GLORY VOICE MEMO is a more acoustic piece of music, but Justin’s voice is drenched so badly in autotune that you can hear it being distorted. Not good. This is a headshakingly bad listen. Skip ahead and save yourself that one minute of agonising listening. Hillsong make better Christian Music than this; lift your game, Justin.

12. DEVOTION features Dijon. It sounds surprisingly natural, at last. This is a fairly Jazz Music structured listen that sounds quite good, for this album at least. Even so, this music lacks a particular magic to it all. At last, we can hear JB minus a ton of autotune and some good, naturally structured instrumentation to match it all. This is a sign that Justin Bieber should take some of the production and editing off of his music, and instead deliver a better and more consistent music statement as a result. Dijon’s guest appearance is nice, as is the backing band. Sorry, Justin, this is a good song, but the songs before it are a missed opportunity. A good and more natural-sounding piece of music, even on this album. A slow burner, but a decent listen throughout. Good for what it is.

13. DADZ LOVE features Lil B. It begins with a cool treated drum loop and some melodies that do not match it at all. Lil B sets the scene, and this launches into a repetitive and, honestly, trashy song that is extremely repetitive to listen to. This music is not that phenomenal, and even the song title is misspelled. The Acid House music of the late 1980s has more consistency and soul than this song. Fortunately, it is fairly short to listen to. Again, the drum loop is very cool, especially at the end. Barely passable.

14. THERAPY SESSION features Druski. Why would one allude to such a thing on a major album release? Who knows. It has the two main vocalists discussing Justin Bieber’s IG posts. No, just no. This is not a genuinely good idea for Justin Bieber to put on an album. Ladies and gents, be careful what you put on your Facebook. Druski offers JB some drugs on it as well. Lovely.

15. SWEET SPOT features Sexyy Red. It sounds retro and horrid from the start. Justin Bieber sings horribly and without confidence about being in love. This is not a million miles away from the male sexism of Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You lyrically. Yes, even with our guest on this song, this is not pleasant, catchy or Pop worthy music. A really disappointing tune to behold. Unfortunately, this album is not a good one, and this tune about raw sexual lust is rather off-putting. Thankfully, this is over after three minutes. A disaster of a song. The outro needs trimming down as well.

16. STANDING ON BUSINESS is more “therapy talk” with Justin Bieber. Nobody needs to hear this nonsense, and these drug addicts ruin any further decent potential that this album has.

17. 405 begins with more of the same dreary textures. This is likely related to a real-life experience of Justin Bieber’s. A slightly better listen than before, but this album is mega processed. In fact, it needs a serious rethink, and Justin Bieber comes across as a character throughout that is difficult to understand, appreciate or sympathise with. Granted, he can sing. He does need to strip back some of the production on this album, all the same. The music and sounds aren’t special, and this album lacks a solid gold classic feel to it. The harmonies in the outro are sweet, however. Nothing extraordinary to listen to, all the same.

18. SWAG features Cash Cobain and Eddie Benjamin. It actually sounds quite good, from the start. Soon enough, the guests rap away nicely, and this tune sounds very anthemic throughout. A decent listening experience, and one of the definite highlights of this album. A lack of quality control on this album release means that, apart from a couple of tracks, this album is sidelined by the competition. Still, this is definitely good to hear. It samples Justin Bieber’s earlier hit Boyfriend as well. A better listen from a very uneven album. It ends after two and a half minutes, and nicely so.

19. ZUMA HOUSE is a short recording of Justin Bieber and an acoustic guitar playing. It sounds so much like the new AI-created and generated Rock Music that it doesn’t sound that real. Nonetheless, it is okay throughout. Good for something a bit different. An okay-sounding and gentle piece of music.

20. TOO LONG is kind of a second name for this album. It begins with some ordinary beats, glassy sounds and has Justin Bieber singing about sex from the male perspective. It doesn’t come across as decent or interesting music throughout. It’s okay, but not phenomenal sounding. It is mostly a digital instrumental piece of music, and again, it is rather disappointing. Fortunately, we are towards the end of this album. After all these years, can we still believe in the Bieb? At this stage, it is very difficult to do so. This song is more of the same, really.

21. FORGIVENESS is the final track on this album. It begins with a fluttering piano, and has some deep and emotional singing by Justin Bieber’s friends. Of course, his belief in Christianity is present here, but the unwritten rule by artists is to leave your politics and religion at the door, unless you are in a position of being explicitly so. Anyway, this is not needed here, and we end the album at the end of this tune.

Justin Bieber’s music is barely consistent from year to year. This release is no different at all. Sometimes, when it works, it sounds glorious. Most of the time, this is not the case. Sure, it sounds like a great representation of what the world of music can offer in 2025, but that aside, this is not very good. Also, it seems that Justin Bieber is channelling a lot of selfish negativity in parts along the way, which destroys the mood of this album. Even so, should you listen to this album? Probably not, you can definitely experience better listening than this in 2025.

Deeply negative and profoundly disappointing.

4/10