The run-up to Justin Bieber‘s fifth studio album has been an emotional Bieber-coaster.
First, he tried to galvanize his fanbase to stream his comeback single, “Yummy,” as it fell to the second spot the Rolling Stone Top 100 Songs chart and the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to the viral success of Roddy Ricch’s “The Box.” Then, last week, the pop singer cried next to his wife Hailey Baldwin and long-time manager Scooter Braun at the unveiling of his new project for music industry insiders.
Now, the latest move in the Bieber rollout is the first episode of the 10-part self-produced documentary, Justin Bieber: Seasons. During the 11-minute intro, Bieber goes back to his childhood home in Stratford, Ontario, as he comes to terms with his present and past ahead of his next album.
“What’s been challenging over the years is a lot of the time I’d make music and it would be for me,” Bieber explains. “When the focus and the goal is about yourself, you tend to lose your purpose in that. The older that I get, the more I realize I’m not utilizing my gift for the right reasons. It’s not about me. It’s about helping someone who’s going through whatever they’re going through.”
Earlier in the documentary, Braun describes what led Bieber to cancel the remaining 15 shows of 2017’s Purpose tour and how it’s shaped the new phase of his career. “Early on in his career, we’d always say ‘Let’s go for another one, let’s go for another hit, another record, another thing, another tour,’” Braun said. “Before Purpose with Journals, I didn’t want him to tour. I wanted him to get healthy. Then he got healthy and we went on Purpose. Then at the end, he was tired…I don’t put any pressures on that timeline anymore.”
During the L.A. playback of the new album, Bieber described the project as telling his story of “growth from a boy to a man.” The first episode of Seasons hammers home this narrative, focusing on the “good headspace” of its protagonist, while also teasing songs heavily inspired by Bieber’s recent marriage.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Seasons director Michael Ratner shared how Bieber’s wedding to Baldwin will feature heavily in the coming episodes. “You’ll see build-up and wedding planning, and then you’ll just see them together and in their everyday life,” Ratner says. “When nobody’s around and they’re at the house, the cameras just start to blend in when you’re there as frequently as we are.”
If anything is for certain, Chance The Rapper is going to love this new Bieberveilli.
