Review Summary: Justin's purpose to reinvent himself results in easily his best and most personal record yet.
Justin Bieber's "comeback" album is like a relationship waiting to reignite its glowing flame. To the contrary, I've never experienced the full realization of a relationship - being one who's faced his struggle in the journey to have something so valuable such as that. Yet when Bieber released his second single "Sorry", I could relate to the story of remorse of messing up in a relationship and "being too little, too late" all too well - didn't have to be in the romance sense to connect the two together. It doesn't matter if you're in one, were in one, or haven't been in one and are hopeful for it - you'll be able to relate with the Canadian pop star one way or another with his defining return in "Purpose", that flame sparks itself and burns wholeheartedly.
When you look back at the past content Justin has released in the nearly 10 years he's been around the mainstream music stratosphere, only a select few words pop up: generic, uninspired, comedic in the bad sense, etc. When you pull up "Purpose", it's like the old Bieber that we came to hate and loafed shredded himself into someone else, something else that we don't immediately recognize. The bumpy, sun-bathed "What Do You Mean?" clarifies in full retrospective, where Bieber in a glowing, fuzzy atmosphere vocalizes over the inconsistency in a relationship. The production hasn't been more on point in Justin's career, varying from lively, apologetic EDM-pop like the glowing, candy-colored "The Feeling" with Halsey, to stripped down, sympathetic acoustics. In the case of "What Do You Mean?", Skrillex's vibrant and candid sound comes as a pleasant surprise, putting to mind his horrid content in previous years. It helps Justin's revival in a big way when stellar production help front his change in sound and creative direction. It gives Justin's music new meaning, something that hasn't been evident in the past.
The change in direction also helps when Bieber directs to the slower, vulnerable acoustics such as the sentimental "Love Yourself". His somber, yet peaceful lyrical basis shines best in the gloomy, quiet electric guitar as he reflects on the loss of a relationship and what he feels now as it fades away. Bieber has been aiming for coming at his content with more fluidity and passionate vocalization, and that hits the mark in Purpose. His change in direction has also allowed for the upbringing of a limited but decent array of featured artists, with his best being a surprise in the eloquent "We Are" with rapper Nas' effusive flow helping Bieber's cause. One of the best rappers of all time meeting in the middle with one of the biggest pop stars in the planet make up for one of the most unlikely collaborations of the year, but one that ironically surprises.
Bieber's return to music is one that while is dreaded by the countless masses of cynical, pop-hating, anti teen-pop music listeners across the world, the script is flipped especially because this isn't the same Justin that you knew from "My World" or "Journals" - this is a refreshed superstar who took 3 years to change his creative and musical direction to catapult himself back into the fold of elite artists in the music stratosphere. After "Purpose", I no longer felt critical or hateful of the man, instead reversed itself to respect and to a sense of humility that is hard to say despite the numerous negative headlines of Justin the entertainment media will throw at you. While they're parts of the album that don't account to the level of the positives like the bouncy "Trust", or the flashes every so often of simply lame lyrics ("All the times that you made me feel swoll" an example), "Purpose" achieves Justin's revival back into music and gains some much-needed respect in the process. It's time to pop the champagne and welcome Justin Bieber to the good graces of music, and to toast once more to his once-again dominant reign in the industry.
