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New Bieb album ‘Changes’ takes a few spins to gain traction

Chart-topping new release is more sustained mood than groundbreaker

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Justin Bieber, gay news, Washington Blade
Justin Beiber’s new album ‘Changes’ breaks a long-standing Elvis industry record. (Image courtesy Def Jam)

Justin Bieber has bragging rights unique to most pop singers of his stature. He has never put out a bad album. Granted, like many performers who rose to fame in early adolescence, it’s unclear what should be considered his first “real” album. Mid-month, he released “Changes,” his first new record in five years.

Admittedly a former “Belieber,” I mark the beginning of Bieber’s mature musical production with the release of “Believe” in 2012. The popular single “Boyfriend” certainly feels like the work of an artist that has reached a degree of musical maturity. But his first truly great album is undoubtedly “Purpose” (2015). And in many ways whatever followed it was bound to be something of a disappointment. The same can be said of a number of popular singers.

“Changes,” a well-timed Valentine’s Day release, debuted at no. 1 on Billboard and Bieber now has more monthly listeners on Spotify (around 64 million) than any other artist, beating Ed Sheeran’s previous record. He now has seven Billboard no. 1 albums and at age 25, he surpasses Elvis as the youngest person to do so.

Listening, however, things get going slowly. For me, it wasn’t until about spin five that things started to jell. 

In part, it’s difficult to appreciate the new album because it’s hard to see what makes it distinct. “Purpose” had a very distinctive sound — a break-up album with masterful production, snappy rhythms, stronger but restrained electronic influence and significantly cleverer lyrics. “Love Yourself” is the undisputed crown jewel. On a first listen, the new album “Changes” largely sounds like songs that did not make the cut of the last.

But give it a little time and the criticism does not seem entirely fair. Unsurprisingly, the production is fantastic and, yes, his voice is as angelic as ever. The first track on the album “All Around Me” sets the tone. “Changes” is not about any sort of music adventuring but rather is biographical. Troublemaker pop star party boy becomes devoted husband: “Never thought I could ever be loyal/To someone other than myself/I never thought I could ever be a spoiler/Guess anything is possible with your help.” It’s like R&B without the rhythm, which sounds like criticism but isn’t. A partly improvised-sounding melody over electric guitar and synth works surprisingly well. It’s spacey and warm, as is the whole album.

“All Around Me” glides seamlessly into “Habitual,” where the bass begin to thump regularly a slow, sensuous beat. Track order is crucial and transitions are not far from the level of a concept album.

So far Bieber has released three singles, the best of which is “Intentions.” The song features Quavo and a great tune. It’s hard to describe but it sounds something like cotton candy tastes. It’s fluffy, sugary but interesting, though the lyrics, forgivably, tend toward the banal.

The lead single “Yummy” has had sustained radio and streaming play since its release just after the new year, but it takes the banal a step too far. The horrendous chorus in which Bieber just repeats “Yummy” is unforgivable. It sticks in your head, but you’ll hate yourself for it. Even in 2020, a chorus needs more substance than two syllables of semi-nonsense.

“Forever,” which features Post Malone and Clever, sounds like slightly faster “Intentions.” The more appealing, sexier songs on the album are scattered all about. “E.T.A.” and “Changes” are fantastic acoustic-heavy tracks that offer a needed break from the slow bass groove and break up tracks that are remarkably similar. And the collaboration with rapper Lil Dicky on “Running Over,” which sounds like it samples Super Mario World, is another gem.

On the whole, the album perhaps rides the line between continuity and sameness a little too closely. It is not particularly easy to dislike, but it does little that is novel or notable. “Changes” more of a sustained mood than a new concept.

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Music & Concerts

Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule

Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1

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Writer Gregg Shapiro with Jill Sobule in 2000. (Photo courtesy Shapiro)

I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.

Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).

Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.

With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.

Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”

That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.

While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.

Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.

On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.

Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.

When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.

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Music & Concerts

Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’

Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.

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Singer Tom Goss is back. (Photo by Dusti Cunningham)

Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co. 

Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.

For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.

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Music & Concerts

Kylie brings ‘Tension’ tour to D.C.

Performance on Tuesday at Capital One Arena

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Kylie Minogue visits D.C. on Tuesday.

Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.

The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”

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