Justin Bieber set expectations quite high for his new single, titled “What Do You Mean?,” as he recruited a bevy of celebrities (including Britney Spears, Martha Stewart, and Kendall Jenner) to promote the single on his Instagram account, and announced he’d be performing the track for the first time at no occasion less than the MTV Video Music Awards. Additionally, after a few years of making headlines for all varieties of non-music-related reasons, Bieber had sort of shifted into the “famous for being famous” category. But his vocals on Diplo and Skrillex’s “Where Are Ü Now?”(released earlier this year) were an appetizer, it turned out, for the seemingly full-fledged return to musical output that this new single heralds.
As for the song itself: there is much to enjoy. It’s a breezy, low-key song, like “Where Are Ü Now?” with 35 percent less propulsion. It’s actually vaguely reminiscent of OMI’somnipresent “Cheerleader,” which has been an unexpected hit this summer. Bieber sounds perhaps more relaxed and confident than ever on the track. Also, the subject matter is, of course, relatable: we have all, many of us multiple times a day, contemplated the meaning of a text message, or e-mail, or dating-app missive. What does it mean that she sent that Snapchat to me privately and posted it as a story?! What does it mean that he texted that he had a great time at dinner, but then didn’t ask to see me again!?? And lastly, the song’s title provides the opportunity for all sorts of amusing miscommunications, which we learned this morning after sending a text message that read, “what do u think of what do u mean” and received a number of “excuse me??” responses.
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