Artist: Justin Bieber
Album: My World
Release Date: 11.17.09

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a widespread resurgence of pop music and the wave is quickly catching on. In the last couple years, artists have been scurrying to either capture the addictive pop flavor for their own projects or find an artist who can. Enter Justin Bieber: Usher’s contribution to the trend in the form of a 15-year old Canadian kid who’s just that – a 15-year old kid. On the first part of his debut album My World (Part II due out in March), the music is reflective of his young life: family struggles, playful puppy love, and uptempo feel-good potential hits. My World is refreshing to hear, replacing innuendos with innocence and bringing the bubblegum back to the pop genre

The album’s lead single One Time was hard to avoid as it took over the charts with it’s infectious hook written by The Dream and introducing the world to Bieber’s pre-pubescent vocals. What he lacks in vocal maturity is somewhat made up for in the insightful lyrics of Down To Earth, one of my favorite tracks that explores Bieber’s perspective on his parent’s divorce – a tough situation for that many of his younger listeners can most assuredly connect with. Prepare to gush with exclamations of “awwww” on Bigger, the album’s “cute” coming-of-age song with lyrics like “I was a player when I was little but I’m bigger…”  Usher’s influence throughout the project is evident, and he makes a guest appearance on First Dance, a dreamy, slightly wistful track where Justin imagines the first dance at the prom with the special little lady that has stolen his heart. The album closes with Love Me, a synth-heavy pop dance smash that samples Lovefool by The Cardigans.

There’s not even a hint of soul in this kid’s voice so the album lacks emotion and comes off a bit generic. Yet his vocals are quite commendable and I still feel him but not in the sense that his music moves me on an emotional level, more so that I feel where he’s coming from. I particularly like the honesty in his presentation; he’s not trying to be something he’s not even with a mentor as powerful as Usher.  With songs like Down To Earth, it’s easy to see that there’s a future for Bieber once the bubblegum phase ends. It’s cool to see kids being kids and not burdening themselves or their fans with premature talk of sex and other adult content. Bieber fever is here to stay it seems…

Sound-Savvy rates My World with 3.5 out of 5 Platinum Headphones.

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