Lindsay Zoladz

But I find...

the best parts of Mayhem to be the best kind of fan service, which is that her fans have just wanted her to go back to making these dark electronic pop bangers for a long time now.

She's swerved a bit, she's dipped a toe in that world, but this is her just committing to the sound that made her famous, but bringing a certain maturity and a level of expertise to that sound that I think just elevates it from some of the earliest stuff that made us all fall in love with her in the first place.

So Bieber released actually two whole albums, two double albums, a lot of music, let's just say, under the name Swag, Swag 1 and Swag 2.

And I didn't think all of that was successful, but I think the highlights for me, including the song Daisies, which was a big hit this year and which was one of my favorite singles of the year, really worked.

This album and this song in particular finds Bieber working with some new collaborators and producers, the producer and musician Dijon and the guitarist McGee.

These are artists that have slightly more experimental, indie-adjacent sounds.

Those are not really words you generally describe Justin Bieber with.

So it was him sort of trying something different.

And then also these collaborators who tend to make a little more avant-garde music working with one of the biggest pop stars in the world still.

And I found that tension between all of those collaborators to be really fruitful.

And I really like the way Bieber sounds on some tracks.

Some songs that don't sound as polished as the pop hits that we're used to associating him with.

And I think Daisy's just sounds unfinished and demo-like in this really intriguing way.

And it felt like a really interesting swerve for Bieber because you're still getting that recognizable, smooth Bieber voice, but with these rougher textures of the instrumentation.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, those two artists really embodied the two different paths you can take after a breakout year.

And I think it was a year light on breakout stars, especially in comparison to last year.

But someone I would also add to this mix is Dochi, who...

Believe it or not, her breakout Grammy performance that I think was the first time a lot of people got to see her perform or really like were introduced to her was in 2025.