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From the depths of the popstar doldrums, Justin Bieber has risen again. After four years of controversy, a heated financial dispute with his longtime manager, numerous reports of him “crashing out,” and very little new music to distract us from this, Bieber finally silenced critics in July with his blissed-out comeback record SWAG. It’s his best work in a decade, a collection of soulful ballads and rap linkups that has the authentic, homespun charm of a mixtape. Improbably, with less than 24 hours’ notice, we learned this week he’d be releasing a follow-up, SWAG II.
Teased yesterday with some memes and billboards, Bieber officially announced the new album on X: “swag II midnight tonight.” It did not drop at midnight, and many diehard fans (and this writer) stayed up for hours, waiting until it finally popped up on streaming services around 3:30 a.m EST. The sequel’s textures are brighter than the original, but its ethos remains the same: This is the music Bieber loves to make. With more odes to his wife, left-field collaborations, and stylistic risks, it’s the sumptuous second half of one of the most surprising popstar transformations in recent memory. Here are five key takeaways.
Same SWAG, Different Day
This is a proper sequel, not a heavily marketed deluxe. These 23 songs have similar textures (word to Mk.gee and Michael Jackson) as SWAG and sound like they were created during the same intense period of artistic breakthrough for Bieber. I imagine there are hundreds of songs in the vault that could’ve landed on either of these, but the 44 we got across these two records were considered the best. I’m sure fans will have a field day rearranging them to their liking.
It Sounds Pink, Too
Where SWAG felt heavily introspective, SWAG II is brighter and generally more fun. Bieber sticks closer to conventional pop structures on the sequel, attacking them with a looseness that sounds like relief. Songs like “Bad Honey” and “All the Way” still lean heavily towards R&B and gospel, but have much less of an alternative skew. After breaking through what felt like artistic purgatory on SWAG, II feels like a victory lap, a celebration of his newfound freedom.
Surprising Features
Much like SWAG, Bieber’s guest list here does not include your standard copy-paste popstar features. He harmonizes with Tems on “I THINK YOU’RE SPECIAL,” gives a verse to the English singer Bakar on the Michael Jackson-indebted “DON’T WANNA.” and lets his pal Lil B throw some spoken word over “SAFE SPACE.” Dijon also lends a hand on production on six songs. But most surprisingly (and effectively!) Shreveport, Louisiana, rapper Hurricane Chris, who had a moment almost 20 years ago with his hit “A Bay Bay,” joins Bieber on “POPPIN’ MY S***” for a show-stealing verse. I imagine Bieber was deep in a regional rap rabbit hole on YouTube before making the boss call.
Biblical Bieber
In case you haven’t heard, Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, recently had a kid. I’ve been told childbirth can bring parents closer to God, and this was touched on in SWAG (“GLORY VOICE MEMO,” “FORGIVENESS”), but taken a step further on SWAG II. “EVERYTHING HALLELUJAH” is an ode to life—its trials, mundanities, and beauty alike. “STORY OF GOD,” though, is a sermon from Bieber himself, who kind of sounds like the nine-year-old in church who is forced to read a long piece of scripture on Easter. He speaks about the story of Adam and Eve, the tree of knowledge, good and evil, the connective tissue between animals and human beings, and how the end is merely the beginning. It’s a long but touching passage, and I much prefer it to the Druski skits we were force-fed on the last album.
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