Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
The funny thing about Justin Bieber’s transition to coolness is that his music has ended up being poppier than it was before. The dirgey faux-R&B of his teens has been replaced with sweet, melodic pop (with a few quirky sound effects thrown in, just to remind us he’s cool now). To ensure the hype doesn’t die down now that Purpose has been out a while, Justin features on two big singles, collaborating with each participant of last year’s summer anthem, Lean On. First came Cold Water with Major Lazer and MØ, and now the big single from DJ Snake’s long-awaited debut album, Encore. The plan was clearly to hedge his bets – it’s basically guaranteed that one of the two tracks will be a megahit, and maybe even both. Let Me Love You is the work of a team of pop songwriters, including Ali Tamposi (best known for writing Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger) and Brian Lee (Fifth Harmony’s Work From Home), a mid-tempo love song that contrasts melancholy verses with a sparkly, uplifting chorus, followed by a bouncy drop (just so we know we’re still in 2016). It has been rumoured that Selena Gomez recorded a version, or perhaps it will later be released as a duet. If they are to finally appear together on a song, this seems like a good choice.