BIEBER. Carefully calibrated pop sound.
MOST of the tracks in Justin Bieber’s latest album, “Believe,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 three weeks ago, are garnished with hooks that are hard to resist, and melodies that show off Justin’s maturing vocal chops—like the adolescent charmer, “Boyfriend”; the percussion-heavy “Fall,” and the groovesome dance-floor ditty, “Out of Town Girl.”
Yes, he mostly tackles teenage love and devotion—but, that’s all right. After all, the baby-faced heartthrob just turned 18 last March, so his followers can’t expect him to tackle very adult themes and carry the problems of the world on his young albeit influential shoulders.
Bieber doesn’t mind tackling his own problems, however. In the bonus track, “Maria,” to address the paternity issue unsuccessfully hurled at him, he sings: “She says she met me on a tour/ She won’t leave me alone/ And she’s dragging my name through the dirt/ That ain’t my baby!” Then, he caps off his swinging reference to “Billie Jean” with an unexpected Michael Jackson-like growl!
Samplings
To further appreciate his hormone-induced vocal evolution, check out the moody exhilaration of the jazz-and-R&B fusion, “Catching Feelings”; the Motown-like swagger of “Die In Your Arms,” which includes properly utilized samplings of “Synthetic Substitution” and “We Got A Good Thing Going”; his complex vocal stylings in “One Love”; the sleek and sassy “Take You,” and the finger-snapping, guitar-driven romantic ode, “Be Alright.”
Bieber’s impressive list of collaborators lends diversity to his carefully calibrated pop sound: Ludacris sizzles in the catchy “All Around The World,” as do Big Sean in “As Long As You Love Me,” Drake in the stylish “Right Here,” and Nicki Minaj in “Beauty And A Beat,” which will keep his sizable tweener fans screaming and swooning!