Justin Bieber’s fifth studio album isn’t the refreshing comeback record we were hoping for. Instead, ’Changes’ is a collection of uninspired songs that feel one dimensional while the heart and soul he’s trying to convey feels quite hollow and forced.
The exhausted collection of tracks sound like one continuous song on loop. Every track has the same beat and he doesn’t stray away from the down-tempo R&B sound that feels a little monotonous.
He’s somehow going to be touring this album in stadiums which is going to be really interesting because this is not a stadium record. There’s no energy or real soul behind these songs. They are all a little flat, predictable and one dimensional.
I was waiting for him to switch it up and deliver some dance injected pop songs but they never came. And in fact I was waiting for one future hit single to hit me smack in the face, but that also never turned up.
There were some strong R&B moments in the midst of the lacklustre moments like ‘Forever’ featuring Post Malone and Clever, ‘Habitual’ and ‘That What Love Is’, but they aren’t really commercially accessible.
The strongest track on the album is the catchy and seductively charged ‘Come Around Me’. The playful track shows a cheeky side of Bieber’s personality that I wish was explored more on this record, because everything else sounds and feels very vanilla.
“When you come around me, treat me like you miss me, even though you been with me. So when you come around me, do me like you miss me, even though you been with me” he sings during the trap R&B influenced hook.
Every decision leading up these release of ‘Changes’ has felt overly calculated and saw Bieber campaigning and publicly declaring loopholes in how to help him chart higher. It has felt desperate and tacky. And instead of trying so hard to chart with a song that is obviously not connecting with people, he should’ve focused on creating a better album because the impact that ‘Changes’ is going to have is very minimal and that’s a real shame.
You purchase a physical copy of ‘Changes’ from Sanity HERE; https://www.sanity.com.au/products/2456747/Changes