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Still, there was much to prove.
This was alarming; the team doesnt take time off lightly.
Boyfriend, the lead single for 2012sBelieve,was released shortly after his 2011 holiday albumUnder the Mistletoe.
TheBelievetour ran from fall 2012 to winter 2013, when theJustin Biebers Believeconcert film and the compilation albumJournalsdropped.
For 18 months, it worked.
What happened next is a matter of public record: A global pandemic hit.
Artists decamped to their homes and studios to regroup.
Records likefolkloreandHow Im Feeling Nowaddressed the sudden, unplanned claustrophobia.
These are noble aims, but theyre also bigger checks than the music ofJusticeseems prepared to cash.
Whats pops core in the early 2020s?
Its bubbly, easygoing bops.
Its carefree trap jams.
Its BTSs Dynamite; its Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi Bs triumvirate of No.
1s, Up, WAP, and Savage; its viralTikToksmashes like Olivia Rodrigos Drivers License.
(BieberbristlingatChangesbeing nominated in pop categories at the Grammys reveals a deliberate intent when it comes to genre.
Bieber sounds better adjusted than ever, but the music hes made this time feels a little reserved.
The more chancesJusticetakes, the better the payoffs.
Ghost breaks unexpectedly into an acoustic singalong in the middle; Lonely is just keyboards and feels.
Whats most notable aboutJusticeis the 80s pop-rock aesthetic.
Hold On and Somebody revisit New Waves metamorphosis into sophisticated adult contemporary pop.
Dancehall veteran BEAM steals the show on Love You Different.
Long Beach singer Giveon sings sweetly on Peaches.
Are these cultural exchanges part ofJustices mission?
Who can say?)
Im praying that I dont go back to who I was, Bieber sings on Deserve You.
I wish that I could change myself, he muses in the chorus of Loved by You.
OnJustice, Bieber is growing and addressing an audience that has also grown since the swoosh-cut days.
It feels like weve met him for the first time.
