As of last Friday, pop music has been graced with the two of the most anticipated albums of the year. There was no way not to hear about this “showdown,” with both artists releasing singles, music and promotion videos in a pretty routine album campaign. The week leading up to the releases however, had a few fun additions, which will be discussed a little later. But before you get settled with popcorn and candy, let’s start with a disclaimer: this will NOT be an epic smack down battle article. Because frankly, the albums are so different that a comparison article would be fruitless. So let’s unpack the media circus and boil it down, shall we? Because media hype is very rarely just about the music.
As it has been well documented, Justin Bieber has been in the spotlight for everything except music for the last three years from his high profile relationship with Selena Gomez to his antics in Miami. His last ‘official’ album, Believe, was released back in 2011 and the lead single Boyfriend came to headphones and airwaves with its distinct hawk whistle/whale call noise, and the world weighed in. Surprisingly, people who claimed to not be Beliebers liked the song, and that hasn’t changed all that much. Purpose is a debut of sorts, a re-debut discussing those last couple of years from his perspective.
Bieber teased his new, mature sound with his feature on Where Are Ü Now, arguably 2015’s Summer Song. The Skrillex and Diplo collaboration nodded toward an electro-pop shift, which was correct: Bieber’s first official single What Do You Mean? has similar vibes. But as electro-pop as it is, Bieber didn’t sacrifice his early Pop/R&B roots. His voice shines through with minimal technical interference, the beats clearly separate from the vocals. The whole album is a reflection of this fusion of two very different genres. His second single Sorry managed to meld Caribbean percussion with a techno beat, while tracks like No Sense and No Pressure featuring Big Sean and Travis Scott respectively, are saturated in early 2000s R&B. Throwing in some powerful piano ballads, Bieber has cultivated his new sound.
Courtesy: The Northern Advocate
As part of the Purpose Movement, Bieber took a page from Beyoncé’s playbook and released a dance video for each song on the album, starting with Sorry upon the single’s release. Now this all seems like a lot of legwork, and it is. There’s still the radio press junket, the TV interviews, but who can blame him as this is his reintroduction to the world.
One Direction is on the other end of the spectrum, music and career wise. The group announced they would not be touring the songs off their fifth album as they have done years prior. Instead they will be taking a breather, a year hiatus to stop and smell the roses as it were. But this album isn’t lacking any boy band magic. In fact, it may be a whole new kind of magic. Where Bieber’s musical transformation was more behind closed doors, 1D have evolved and grown on a global stage for the past five years.
Their new album is the fruit of that growth. Since Zayn Malik’s departure in March, the band and fan base were wounded but neither have waivered in their loyalty, no thanks to a consistent cycle of breakup rumors milling about. But the love hasn’t dwindled by any means; their fans have been their strength and vice versa. The album’s first single Drag Me Down is a fun up beat bop that shows off the guys’ new ranges and direction, having even non-fans dancing in the car. The follow up single, Perfect, is a new age rock ballad, both songs great for radio The rest of Made in the A.M. however has a delightful alternative/oldies feel, with plenty of acoustic guitars, big band brass undertones and singing string quartets. But the same way Bieber’s album is a reintroduction, 1D are saying see you later to their millions of fans.
Courtesy: Music Times
The media circus that’s surrounded these two bodies of work has been nothing short of chaotic. Some of it was organized and fun – Twitter made special emojis that show up in the tweets alongside the hashtags for the albums and radio stations made it a race to see which fan base could call in enough to get either album played for a full half hour. But the mainstream media seemed to be more in love with the fact of warring girls like a Roman gladiator battle was being broadcasted on November 13th. The truth is the “war” says more about the industry than the fan base, who for the most part, overlap quite a bit. Since both artists appeal to young women, was there supposed to be a brawl or something? Two artists, on very different spectrums of the genre releasing on the same day is nothing new. The pop music pool is big enough for everyone. Hopefully, whatever the numbers, the music reaches the intended ears and brightens days.