5 things we want from Justin Bieber’s new album
Here’s the deal: Justin Bieber’s new album is dropping on November 13, according to Billboard. Beliebers, mark the calendar and settle in for a few months of anxious waiting! In the meantime, though, your thirst will be quenched by his new single, “What Do You Mean,” which will be released to the world on August 28. JB’s friends have been helping him count down the days, with today’s reminder from girlpop group Fifth Harmony.
So, how does this news fit in the pantheon of Bieber beats? It’s been a year and a half since his compilation album, Journals, and three years since his last studio album, Believe. His sexy-baby posturing has evolved over the years from the more innocent tone of My World to the more suggestive Believe, with detours to SNL appearances and his absolutely incredible Christmas album, Under The Mistletoe. What can we expect from this new album? Let’s talk about our hopes for this new Bieber tune-baby.
More collaborations with artists very different from Justin
Justin’s strengths are twofold: firstly, being his saccharine self, and secondly, sweetening up the more mature beats of other artists. Some of his best and most popular work has been collabs, including “Eenie Meenie” with Sean Kingston, “Never Say Never” with Jaden Smith, “Beauty and the Beat” with Nicki Minaj, and most recently the earworm single “Where Are Ü Now” with Diplo and Skrillex.
The last of these is the most notably grown-up. Justin himself, in an interview with Ryan Seacrest, called the sounds of “Where Are Ü Now” a mix of “uplifting, clear, poppy, but cool,” and noted that the “sounds are super expensive,” whatever that means.
What could be up next for JB on this album? Well, he’s teased a potential collaboration with goddess Taylor Swift, so fingers crossed for that!
Getting to see his angry side
Justin is known for those puppy-dog eyes and songs that promise to treat you right. He’s also been getting in to some “why don’t you like me back?” sad song varietals. Let’s see some “you done me wrong,” sassy, single guy power-ballads, Justin! You could even branch out to covers if you don’t want to write them yourself. I would be all-hands-on-deck for a JB cover of “Respect.”
“What Do You Mean” sounds like it might be slightly along these tracks, but most rumors seem to think it’s a more upbeat track than an angry one. Justin himself told Ryan Seacrest, “Well, like, the girls are often like just flip-floppy, right, they say something and then they mean something else, so I wanna, like, what do you mean?” Totally. As flip-floppy as your hair, Justin.
Lyrics hinting at his real life.
Look, I have no pretensions of respectability here. I love reading columns dissecting Taylor Swift’s songs and assigning a relationship to each one. (I still just want to know who “Mean” is about! Taylor, you burned that bully so good!) Would it kill Justin to give us a little tease of some personal information by putting some Hollywood dirt in a song? No, it would not.
I would even settle for a lyric in “What Do You Mean” about the song’s producer, Jason “Pooh Bear” Boyd. I am planning assume that any lyric about “honey” is about Jason “Pooh Bear” Boyd, and I invite you to join me.
Songs about things he’s gotten through other than relationships
Just because Justin is the king of relationship songs, sweet and sad and poppy, doesn’t mean he can’t talk about other things. (Christmas doesn’t count.) He’s gone through a lot, from his Comedy Central roast to his Calvin Klein ad. I want to know what he feels about these big events in his life. How about getting tattoos? That’s supposed to hurt. I need more information about your opinions, Justin!
Some music videos with a sense of humor
Justin’s proved that he has a great sense of humor and can even laugh at himself. My favorite example of this will always be his “Baby Lady” duet on SNL with Tina Fey. Just imagine a video where Justin’s songs are totally lipsynced by Kate McKinnon, who has done some amazing impressions of him. How about a video that’s just Justin’s signature look up through his bangs in very very slow motion? I’m just saying, there are tons of possibilities here. I beliebe in you, Justin.
Justin Bieber as you’ve never seen him before, thanks to Diplo and Skrillex
The reason why Justin Bieber got a new tattoo makes our hearts feel heavy
