Teased in 2024, the result of an intriguing collaboration between forward-thinking guitarist Mk.gee and pop superstar Justin Bieber has now seen the light of day.
Mk.gee (AKA Mike Gordon) discussed the partnership with The New York Times in 2024, saying of Bieber: “He’s searching. Anything that comes out of his mouth: That’s pop music. You can really do pretty wild stuff behind that, just because it represents something.”
It’s not known how many tracks the pair produced together, but one of them - Daises - has appeared on Bieber’s surprise new album, Swag. A slice of smooth alt-pop/R&B, this is powered by Mk.gee’s instantly recognisable guitar playing, but perhaps isn’t as “wild” as some might have hoped for.
Mk.gee gets both writing and production credits on Daises, as does his close collaborator, Dijon (Duenas). In fact, Dijon is credited on multiple Swag tracks, including Devotion, on which he’s also a featured artist.
This isn’t the first high-profile 2025 album that both Mk.gee and Dijon have been involved in - they both appear on Bon Iver’s Sable, Fable, but on different songs. Dijon previously supported Bon Iver on tour, with Mk.gee serving as his guitarist, and Bon Iver leader Justin Vernon suggested earlier this year that the pair made quite an impression.
“That was the first time where I was actually, like, really, really, really humbled,” he told the New York Times’ Popcast. “Like, I always enjoyed the people we went on tour with, but I was like, ‘Oh, this is fresh.’ What they were doing, it reignited something. It really had me second-guessing - not second-guessing, I love what we did. But it was like, ‘Oh. We’re just about dinosaurs. We’re just about over our own hill.’”
