Review Summary: In defence of the tween dream.
Have you reached the age where you restrict yourself for liking anything that's targeted primarily at children? Not just television shows or movies...music, too. Don't ask why, but a lot of people seem to reach a certain age and simply will not allow any enjoyment out of music that is aimed at a demographic younger than them. Not even as a guilty pleasure. It's all "well I never" indignation and a half-hearted rant about the evils of Disney or "real music" or whatever else have you. Sometimes, however, it's good to strip away any context whatsoever and do your very best to focus on the music itself - no matter how much every other factor attempts to weigh down and cloud your judgement.
Take the latest teenage sensation with a zillion YouTube views and the undying love of tween girls worldwide. His name is Justin Bieber, and for every ten of his screaming fans there will be at least five detractors. Hell, if you type the kid's name into Facebook, the top group results apart from the actual Justin Bieber ones are "Justin Bieber Sucks" and "I HATE JUSTIN BIEBER" (yes, in full blaring caps lock glory). Given, it's easy to be infuriated by the kid's ridiculous success so early into his career, and especially at such a young age (he's all of sixteen). Additionally, his debut EP
My World (considered to be the first half of his debut album) isn't going to please everyone. But let's at least try to be level-headed here.
My World might not be the most substantial release currently floating in the pop stratosphere, but it's nowhere near as bad as you'd suspect.
Bieber has fallen in with some friends in pretty high places, and takes full advantage of this on
My World. An A-list of producers and songwriters glisten throughout the personell list, which has its good and bad points. Certainly, it's an impressive set of hit-makers on hand. The EP commences, after all, with "One Time". Songwriting duties are here handled primarily by pop mastermind The-Dream - a relevant figure if the phrase "ella, ella, eh, eh" holds any significance to your ears. It's a pure 2000s pop affair, a unit-shifter at birth with plentiful rnb flirtations and cutesy "I wanna be your boyfriend" undertones. bouncing, swaggered rhythms match up to fluttering synthesizer and more melodic hooks packed into its brief entirety than a Tyson fight. It's the exact kind of incessant catchiness that has built The-Dream's pop reputation from the ground up, and he does nothing here to disgrace that - well, maybe apart from having Bieber singing the word "shawty".
The guidance continues further with newcomers Midi Mafia, who go back-to-back with the two best tracks on the EP. Up first is the touching piano-based balladry of "Down to Earth", which sees Bieber step up as the main lyricist. It comes together surprisingly well, as he gets teary-eyed over the aftermath of his parents' divorce ("You tell me this is for the best/So tell me, why am I in tears?") and leads the charge with his shrill higher range, here at its least annoying. At the opposite end of the spectrum, "Bigger" borrows equal parts from Chris Brown's Exclusive and any platinum-selling new jack swing from the early nineties, resulting in an upbeat, urban-flavoured bop that begs for a heavily-choreographed girl-chasing music video. Again, the lyrics are nothing short of questionable: "Gotta believe me like a fairytale" and "I was a playa when I was little" are amongst the more bewildering (perhaps an elaboration on this day care heartbreak should appear on the next record?). Still, it's sweet in its nature, and Bieber's harmonies and shouty backing vocals add both sugar and spice to the track.
At times, there's definitely a sense of too many cooks on
My World. It simply can't be avoided. With eleven sets of producers, a few tracks get lost significantly in their translation. "Love Me" yoinks from the book of Nina Persson (The Cardigans' "Lovefool") and puts it through an artificial blender. Of course the chorus is going to be catchy, but the rest of the track feels like Bieber tripping over his untied shoelaces. "First Dance", complete with a whole four lines from Usher , is also a considerable dud. Instrumentally, it's the kind of steamy slow-jam Usher himself would have bought into earlier in his career but would laugh in the face of these days. It's all great to Bieber, however, who gets away with G-rated lyrics about prom nightthat get even funnier out of context and with a dirty mind (Sample: "I couldn't ask for more/We're rocking back and forth"). It's only natural to expect missteps here, however.
Justin Bieber is already a massive franchise, but internally there's still a lot of work to be done. Really, all
My World is about is slightly-cheesy but ultimately likable pop with a computerised sheen. Hate all you want, but the kid's just getting started and there's too much potential here to let it all go to waste. Now, the reason why pop is evil is...
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