Justin Bieber Returns With “Swag”

After a four-year hiatus from the studio album format, Justin Bieber is back—older, newly a father, and once again in control of the narrative. His seventh studio album, Swag, released on Friday, marks a significant evolution in the pop star’s personal and professional journey.

The lead-up to “Swag" has been part stealth drop, part guerrilla campaign. A mysterious billboard that first appeared in Reykjavik, Iceland, simply read “SWAG” beside Bieber’s face—a callback to his Boyfriend era, sure, but this time layered with new meaning. The same sign cropped up on Sunset Boulevard, then Times Square.

On July 11, he confirmed the speculation—Swag was real, and it was here.

Standing on Business

Clocking in at just under an hour with 20 tracks, “Swag” features titles like “Devotion”, “Dadz Love”, and “Therapy Session”—not exactly your typical summer bops. But don’t let the titles fool you. These songs might be moody, introspective, and laced with spiritual yearning, but they’re built on classic Bieber DNA: earworm melodies, sleek production, and hooks that burrow in and refuse to leave.

Swag was forged in transition.

In May, he and Hailey Bieber welcomed their first child. The couple has remained relatively private, aside from a few carefully curated social media posts. One of them—showing Hailey holding their son while Bieber stands in the foreground—now appears across promotional billboards.

Professionally, Swag is also his first album since his public split with longtime manager Scooter Braun in 2023. That departure followed a string of financial and legal complications stemming from the cancellation of his Justice world tour, for which Bieber had received a $40 million advance. The issue was later settled, with Braun’s company reportedly covering the debt. It marked the end of a 15-year business relationship and the beginning of what Bieber has described as a more independent phase of his career.

In the time since, Braun has stepped down as CEO of HYBE America, and Bieber’s catalogue was sold for a reported $200 million. That deal, along with Hailey’s $1 billion sale of Rhode Beauty to e.l.f. Cosmetics, signals a new chapter not just artistically, but economically.

So yeah, life’s been eventful for the pop star.

The Tracklist Reads Like a Memoir

Swag is Bieber’s first full-length release since 2021’s Justice, a commercial hit that saw the artist lean into R&B and socially conscious themes. But where Justice felt polished and publicly positioned, Swag feels markedly more introspective. Across its 20 tracks, the album draws heavily from the singer’s personal life: his marriage, his faith, fatherhood, and the lingering weight of fame.

Track titles like “Dadz Love,” “Therapy Session,” and “Forgiveness” suggest an album built around self-reflection. Others, such as “Devotion,” “Soulful,” and “Glory Voice Memo,” gesture toward the artist’s long-standing Christian faith. The tone is often subdued, layered with atmospheric production and mid-tempo beats that allow the lyrical content to take centre stage.

One track, “Butterflies,” samples a viral video from Father’s Day, in which Bieber confronted paparazzi while out with his wife, Hailey, and their newborn. In the clip, Bieber states plainly, “I’m a dad. I’m a husband. You’re not getting it.” The sample—unexpected, raw—now serves as both a motif and mission statement.

Collaborators and Sound

Bieber’s collaborators on Swag span both familiar faces and rising talent. The album includes features from artists like Gunna, Sexyy Red, and Cash Cobain, as well as production from Carter Lang (SZA), Dylan Wiggins (The Weeknd, Kali Uchis), and longtime musical director HARV. Sources close to the project shared that jam sessions at Bieber’s Los Angeles home—attended by DJs, producers, and artists found via Instagram DMs—formed the backbone of the album’s creation.

Notably, the final stages of the album were completed in Iceland, where Bieber reportedly travelled in April to “vibe out” and finish production in a secluded setting. The choice to finalise the album away from Los Angeles underscores its tonal shift—less industry-driven, more inward-looking.

There is confidence in the restraint, and clarity in the messaging. Whether or not Swag will deliver chart-topping singles is beside the point. What it does deliver is something arguably more valuable: perspective.

Swag Track List

1. “All I Can Take”
2. “Daisies”
3. “Yukon”
4. “Go Baby”
5. “Things You Do”
6. “Butterflies”
7. “Way It Is”
8. “First Place”
9. “Soulful”
10. “Walking Away”
11. “Glory Voice Memo”
12. “Devotion”
13. “Dadz Love”
14. “Therapy Session”
15. “Sweet Spot”
16. “405”
17. “Swag”
18, “Zuma House”
19. “Too Long”
20. “Forgiveness”