Hit after hit, album after album, tour after tour has seemingly been Justin Bieber’s music career for as long as any Gen-Z kid could remember. This non-stop lifestyle came to a halt in 2015, following Bieber’s release of his sixth studio album, “Purpose.” This album was followed by an uncompleted worldwide tour. Fourteen dates of the tour were cancelled due to Bieber’s ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and, arguably, the biggest pop star the world had known fell silent. Five years later, Bieber is back with his highly anticipated release of his seventh studio album, “Changes.”
“Changes” debuted on Feb. 14 with 17 songs, including three released prior to the album, “Yummy,” “Get Me” and “Intentions.” According to The Guardian, the album scored Beiber the title of the youngest artist in the world to achieve seven number one albums in the United States, beating Elvis Presley’s 59-year-old record.
The album is very distinguished, five of the songs contain features from some contemporary music greats. For example, Travis Scott is featured on the song ‘Second Emotion” and Post Malone is featured on the song “Forever.”
The tone of Bieber’s album is much different than his previous sappy and cheesy love ballads. Although the albums songs do still follow along the lines of romance, “Changes” gives great emphasis on Bieber’s developmentental journey growing up in the spotlight and, ultimately, his progression to his current and wiser phase of life. For example, his song in the album titled “Changes” has an irresistibly catchy chorus that reflects on his journey as an artist in comparison to his current phase of life. The chorus of this song repeats, “I just wanna be the best of me… I’m going through changes” giving obvious emphasis on his determined mindset and motivation to continue growing and developing.
Along with the developmental theme of the album Bieber has been in the works of shifting his public perception from his “bad boy” days to his older, more mature self. In his Youtube Original documentary series, “Seasons,” that coincided with the release of the album, Bieber details his past experiences with drug use. “My security… were coming into the room at night to check my pulse,” Bieber said. Beiber used these experiences to develop this album.
The album also is in celebration of his new wife, Hailey Bladwin. They got married on September 13, 2018. Numerous songs are an ode to their relationship, two of the being the first two tracks of the album, “All Around Me” and “Habitual”. In the song “Habitual”, Bieber details how he has become accustomed to married life and it has now become a part of his nature.
Bieber has proven his dominance in the music industry as he has released albums and songs at all stages and throughout all of his experiences during his life. But, his new album “Changes” is an irrefusable listen for this year and proves Bieber’s development to become the new person he is today.