Month: March 2021

No matter how you feel about him, Justin Bieber is not a name that is new to anyone. The long-time superstar has recently released a new album called “Justice”, his sixth studio album. This album, like the previous one “Changes”, shows a lot of maturity compared to Bieber’s earlier works. Even his fourth album “Purpose” is a lot more pop-sounding and juvenile compared to the two later works. I’ve honestly always been a fan of Justin’s music, but I think his new, more relaxed sound works a lot better with his voice and can appeal to a wider audience. There are definitely still some pop tracks, but they still have more mature sounds and lyrics than his previous albums. The one critique I have of this album is the MLK quotes featured. In my opinion, it feels a little tone deaf to take King’s message about injustices in America and throw them into an album about your rich, white, privileged wife. It feels to me like an attempt to seem politically correct without giving any real thought to the true significance of what King was trying to portray. 

My favorite song off the new album is “Peaches”. This song is a love song, presumably about his wife Hailey. Both this new album and the preceding “Changes” contained mostly music about her. I personally like how he writes so much music about Hailey. Some of my friends said that they thought two entire albums about his marriage is overkill, but I think it is cute. It also feels more genuine that he is writing about his actual life and feelings instead of writing to appeal to an audience.  One thing that makes this song so good is the features. I am also a fan of both their music separately, so I was excited to see them featured on the album.  Both Giveon and Daniel Caesar have places on this song. Both are R&B singers, so both of their voices and styles fit well with the song. 

The other song I really liked from this album was “Unstable”. This song features The Kid LAROI, and like “Peaches, I thought this feature worked very well. The Kid LAROI has a voice that is very similar to Biebers, so his voice fits the song perfectly. This song is one of the sadder tracks on this album, which is another reason why The Kid LAROI was a great choice. While his music could be considered more hip-hop than “Unstable” is, his lyrics are similarly emotional.

Justin Bieber is definitely a celebrity that has established himself as controversial due to past behaviors, which is why this album makes me feel conflicted. It absolutely sounds good, but I am struggling to overlook the obvious attempt to prove to people that he now a God-loving married man and not a rowdy teenager. I think if it were not for the featured Martin Luther King Jr. quotes I would fall for this, but for now I am feeling conflicted and unconvinced.

 

“Tongue tied” by Grouplove is my top played Spotify song of all time. I have had Spotify since 2016, and can confirm that this song has been a staple of my playlists since then. I honestly do not remember the first time i heard this song but I’m pretty sure it was on Radio 104.5 (a Philadelphia radio station that plays alternative music). 

This is another song to me that sounds the way summer feels. It is upbeat and full of energy right off the bat. The song begins with a “woo” which has always reminded me of that part in a lot of teen movies where the bell rings on the last day of school and everyone cheers. I’m honestly not sure if this song is supposed to be about being a teenager, but it absolutely feels that way to me. 

This is another song where the music video adds a level of clarity. You can tell this song is a love song from the lyrics, but some of them I don’t think make any sense. The music video though reveals more of what this song is about. The events of the video go backwards – like the video for Coldplay’s “The Scientist – so it begins with him waking up in a field. If you were to watch the video backwards it starts off with a guy eating a brownie (presumably a pot brownie judging from the lyric “I’ll get real high”) and then going to a party. He is very obviously under the influence from the way the video is shot. He kisses a random girl and then is chased by three masked men. Taking the lyrics into account, the way I interpreted this was that he cheated on his girlfriend with that random girl, and the three masked men were his guilt. My theory is supported by the lyrics that seem to be about a break-up because of the repeated line “don’t wave no goodbye” and the album title “Never Trust a Happy Song”. 

Despite the confusion around this song, it will forever be one of my favorites. Happy songs like this are always perfect at turning around a bad day. Songs be able to last throughout the years like this one has to me is a testament the pure quality of it, which is why I consider it one of my favorite songs.

This is my favorite song EVER. There have been times where I have listened to this song on repeat for like an hour straight. Sometimes I wish I could go back and listen to it for the first time again. Also, it’s 3:33 long, and 333 is my lucky number. It doesn’t change anything about the way the song actually sounds, but I just think that it’s cool.

I personally think 070 Shake is so underrated. A lot of people are familiar with her voice due to her contributions to Kanye West’s project “Ye”, but do not know her own projects. Both her voice and the sound of her music in general is so distinct and unique. She released her first studio album last January after spending the three years previous only dropping singles. I discovered her over the summer because of her song “Honey” and have been obsessed ever since. 

“Guilty Conscience” in particular is almost mesmerizing. Most of her music has sort of a hip-hop type sound, but this song and album deviate from her past style. It’s very solemn, and the style of it reminds me of 80’s synth-pop. Though, it isn’t so solemn that having it come on shuffle puts a damper on my day. The synthesizers on the instrumentals sound literally perfect, and makes you feel like you’re floating. And, of course, her voice is beautiful. It’s pretty deep, but still can sound feminine at times. 

The video that accompanies the song is also really cool. Before the music starts there is a paragraph about the meaning of the video, where it is explained that she wanted the video to portray a boy trying to cover up his vulnerability. Personally, I like how she provided her thoughts because sometimes I feel like if I am super confused I can’t always fully appreciate the meaning and artistry. Since I am able to understand the significance of the music video, I can say that I think it fits perfectly with the song- not necessarily sound wise but more meaning wise. The way I interpret this song is that it is about someone who cheated on their partner and hid it, but then caught their partner cheating back. I think the video fits this because it goes along with the idea of hiding your emotions, in this case their guilt.

070 Shake produced a beautiful piece of music with this song. The amount of creativity and artistic license she shows with both the song and the accompanying video solidify her as one of my top artists and this song will probably be featured on my playlists for a long time.