Justin Bieber - SWAG album review: 'this is not a crisis record'

Don’t expect any great revelations from Justin Bieber’s first album in four years, a period which seemingly has only been filled with some kind of breakdown, as evidenced by the photos of him looking in a ‘worrying’ state which appear every month or so.

Well if he has been through the mill - and he has been sharing shots of himself looking distressed at times - there’s not much evidence of it on SWAG, at least in its songs.

In the occasional interludes, where he’s chatting to the comedian featuring comedian Druski, there are some nuggets for the gossip-mongers. On one called Therapy Session, Druski refers to the social posts and says, “You’re trolling... people say he’s losing his mind but that’s you doing things your own way.”

Bieber replies, “I’m feeling like I’ve had to go through a lot of my struggles as a human publicly, so people always asking if I’m okay, and that starts to weigh on me.”

So it may well be that he’s fueled a lot of this talk out of boredom or frustration. So what you might have thought - especially since this is a surprise album dropped out of the blue - would be a delve into the struggles he’s had in a raw and exposing way, is not at all what we have here. There is not a new sound or a new approach, this is pretty much Bieber as usual, only more so: 21 tracks of lightly personal R&B balladry that will please his fans but won’t convert anyone else.

(Press handout)

Opener All I Can Take is the big pop number, an 80s slice of CD heartbreak yacht-pop which is perfectly lovely, if lacking a big chorus.

Daisies shows a man worried about whether or not his partner loves him or might leave him, which doesn’t really come across as a big insight into his relationship with Hailey Bieber, just standard territory for a pop balladeer. It’s nice but not revelatory.

Go Baby again feels like it remains on safe ground - ‘there’s my baby, she’s iconic’ it goes - and it’s just too sickly sweet when you want a bit of sourness too.

Only Glory Voice Memo feels like a glimpse behind the pop facade, where he sings about feeling let down and strung out and ‘beggin’ for mercy’ with a simply guitar accompaniment... sadly this is just a little filler between the main tracks. It feels like there were new adventures to be had here, to expose himself more than he does.

But, perhaps despite all the breakdown talk, that is just not the story here. The album photos and IG photos he’s been sharing are of him with his wife and child, and perhaps the SWAG here is one about family. In other words, they are his saving grace from his demons and he draws his power and his ability to stand up in the world from them. This is not a crisis record, this is a solace record. As such, it has its own charms; good luck to the guy. Dadz Love is the best song here and speaks for itself.