"Like its predecessor, released just two months ago, Swag II unites a buzzy team of producers and writers known for freshening up R'n'B and hands them a precisely curated Pinterest board: Dangerous-era Michael Jackson, D'Angelo's lush arrangements, Jai Paul's glitchy, retro-futurist sonics and the sun-bleached textures of current collaborators Mk.gee and Dijon. But with unadventurous songwriting, the result is (another) album that's all vibe and voguish production, and very little substance."
"Opener Speed Demon reheats Bieber's is it clocking to you meme for the second time across both albums, albeit with a bright, funky bravado and a memorably bonkers chorus about checking these chickens, AKA leaving his critics in the dust. But for a song bragging about ambition, it lacks adrenaline like many of Swag II's safe, repetitive tracks. Much of the album offers an interesting, textured backdrop for Bieber's pleading croon, and then goes nowhere."
"Everything Hallelujah suffers a similar fate, transforming a profound realisation about his faith into lyrical mundanity (brush my teeth, hallelujah) and musical cliche, with squeaking acoustic guitar strings serving as an easy shorthand for authenticity. Likewise Story of God, the nearly eight-minute sermon which closes the record: Bieber retells Adam and Eve (co-written by a pastor from his preferred celebrity megachurch) with generic ambient swooshes to"
Swag II adds 23 tracks and draws on Dangerous-era Michael Jackson, D'Angelo's lush arrangements, Jai Paul's retro-futurist sonics, and sun-bleached textures of Mk.gee and Dijon. A buzzy team of producers and writers fashions a precisely curated sonic palette aimed at freshening R'n'B. Unadventurous songwriting leaves the record all vibe and voguish production with very little substance. Opener Speed Demon recycles a meme with bright bravado but lacks adrenaline. Many tracks provide textured backdrops for Bieber's pleading croon yet fail to progress. Ballads like Open Up Your Heart and Love Song tease thrills but never earn them, while Everything Hallelujah and Story of God reduce spiritual themes to lyrical mundanity and musical cliché.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]