SWAG by Justin Bieber
66
ChoruScore
10 reviews
Jul 11, 2025
Release Date
ILH Production Co. LLC / Def Jam Recordings
Label

Justin Bieber's SWAG arrives as a sprawling, sometimes frustratingly beautiful portrait of a pop star negotiating marriage, fame and faith. Across the record's 21 tracks critics point to a handful of songs - notably “ALL I CAN TAKE”, “BUTTERFLIES” and “DEVOTION” - that crystallize its rewards: late-night 1980s-tinged R&B shimmer, lo-fi intimacy and candid domestic confession. The quick verdict from professional reviews is mixed but attentive: SWAG earned a 66/100 consensus score across 10 professional reviews, with reviewers consistently praising specific standout tracks even as they question the album's scale and editing.

Critics agree that the record's strengths lie in its warm production and moments of vulnerability. Reviews from Rolling Stone, Slant and PopMatters highlight “BUTTERFLIES” and “DEVOTION” for melodic warmth and intimate detail, while Clash, NME and The Independent elevate “ALL I CAN TAKE” and “DAISIES” as production-forward highs. Common themes across reviews include tonal inconsistency - the alternation between sanctified confession, bedroom bravado and unfinished voice-memo sketches - and a tension between personal vulnerability and moments of self-aggrandizement. Critics repeatedly note retro R&B influence, occasional gospel-inflected outros, and uneven editing that leaves promising sketches feeling incomplete.

Where reviews diverge provides the most telling nuance: some critics frame SWAG as a liberated, artistically maturing diversion that rewards repeated listens, while others view it as bloated and under-checked, with filler that undercuts its best songs. Taken together, the critic consensus suggests that SWAG is worth exploring for its standout tracks and candid moments of growth, even if its sprawling form prevents it from fully coalescing into a definitive statement in Bieber's catalog.

Critics' Top Tracks

The standout songs that made critics take notice

1

BUTTERFLIES

4 mentions

""Butterflies" is a summer-appropriate, wistful ode to lasting love, backed by a muted guitar."
PopMatters
2

DEVOTION

4 mentions

"Later, in "Devotion", Bieber channels marital bliss through a low-fi, acoustic, bluesy rendition of Leon Bridges ' "River"'"
PopMatters
3

ZUMA HOUSE

2 mentions

""Zuma House" is a stripped-down acoustic-guitar ballad"
Rolling Stone
"Butterflies" is a summer-appropriate, wistful ode to lasting love, backed by a muted guitar.
P
PopMatters
about "BUTTERFLIES"
Read full review
4 mentions
86% sentiment

Track Ratings

How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.

View:
1

ALL I CAN TAKE

9 mentions
100
04:07
2

DAISIES

8 mentions
100
02:56
3

YUKON

4 mentions
84
02:43
4

GO BABY

7 mentions
94
03:14
5

THINGS YOU DO

1 mention
74
01:48
6

BUTTERFLIES

4 mentions
100
03:13
7

WAY IT IS

1 mention
70
03:15
8

FIRST PLACE

3 mentions
100
03:20
9

SOULFUL

3 mentions
73
00:36
10

WALKING AWAY

5 mentions
82
04:04
11

GLORY VOICE MEMO

4 mentions
78
01:24
12

DEVOTION

4 mentions
100
03:54
13

DADZ LOVE

4 mentions
66
02:25
14

THERAPY SESSION

2 mentions
95
01:18
15

SWEET SPOT

5 mentions
81
03:05
16

STANDING ON BUSINESS

2 mentions
66
00:50
17

405

3 mentions
03:32
18

SWAG

0 mentions
02:30
19

ZUMA HOUSE

2 mentions
100
01:23
20

TOO LONG

3 mentions
69
03:04
21

FORGIVENESS

1 mention
5
01:30

What Critics Are Saying

Deep insights from 14 critics who reviewed this album

Critic's Take

Justin Bieber finds a quiet, cohesive groove on SWAG, where the best tracks - “Therapy Session”, “Go Baby”, and “Daisies” - stake out his mature pop strengths. Matthew Dwyer writes with a measured, analytical warmth, noting how songs like “Therapy Session” and “Standing on Business” confront fame while “Go Baby” and “Devotion” root the record in marital affection. The review frames SWAG as a refinement of past experiments, praising its blend of funk, R&B and soft rock and flagging the intimate, lived-in detail that makes the best songs resonate. This is an album whose best tracks reveal a reconciled, contented artist rather than a chart-chasing one.

Key Points

  • The best songs (notably "Therapy Session" and "Go Baby") succeed by combining candidness about fame with intimate marital detail.
  • The album's core strength is a cohesive blend of funk, R&B and soft rock that lets Bieber sound reconciled and mature.

Themes

celebrity scrutiny marriage and devotion artistic maturation R&B and soft rock fusion

Critic's Take

Justin Bieber arrives on SWAG with a soft, reclaimed confidence, and the best songs prove why he needed this recalibration. Tracks like “Daisies” and “Devotion” stand out as the album's clearest emotional centers, pairing warped, yielding production with a genuinely warm, blissful vocal approach. The record is at its strongest when Bieber joins production instead of vaulting over it, delivering intimacy and a sticky, gospel-inflected R&B that answers the question of his musical reclamation. For listeners searching for the best songs on SWAG, start with “Daisies” and “Devotion” - they encapsulate the album's newfound restraint and comfort.

Key Points

  • “Daisies” is the best song because it balances warped production with warm, join-the-production vocals.
  • The album’s core strength is a reclaimed, warm R&B that favors intimacy and collaborative production.

Themes

reclamation liberation R&B evolution family and marriage cultural appropriation

Critic's Take

In SWAG Justin Bieber alternates between sanctified confession and crass bedroom boasts, and the best songs - notably “All I Can Take” and “Dadz Love” - show the record at its most sonically promising and personally revealing. El Hunt frames those moments as high points amid a sprawling, 21-track set that often feels poorly edited, so when “All I Can Take” luxuriates in Kashif-tinged R&B or “Dadz Love” shifts into cavernous guitar, the album briefly coheres. The reviewer still finds the lyrics half-baked elsewhere, meaning the best tracks stand out less for lyrical mastery and more for production and emotional flickers that suggest a subtler, more focused Bieber could have emerged here.

Key Points

  • The best song, notably "All I Can Take", succeeds because of its rich, Kashif-influenced R&B production and focused opening.
  • The album’s core strengths are glossy, varied production and occasional personal vulnerability, offset by uneven editing and weak lyrics.

Themes

fame and scrutiny faith and spirituality sexuality and intimacy collaboration/influence uneven editing
Consequence logo

Consequence

Unknown
Jul 14, 2025
77

Critic's Take

Justin Bieber approaches SWAG as a conflicted apology and a stylistic flex, with the best tracks landing where retro R&B and personal confession intersect. The opener “All I Can Take” and the Michael Jackson-tinged “First Place” emerge as the album's clearest wins, their vulnerable lyrics and '80s-tinged production doing the heavy lifting. Meanwhile “Sweet Spot” showcases his celebrity friendships more than artistic depth, a guest turn that feels uneven rather than essential. The record's candid skits and moments like “Therapy Session” give the project emotional texture, even when the results are uneven.

Key Points

  • The best song is the opener because its vulnerable lyricism and '80s R&B production crystallize the album's emotional aim.
  • SWAG's core strength is marrying retro R&B influences with candid, sometimes awkward confessions about image and belonging.

Themes

public image racial identity and cultural borrowing vulnerability R&B retro influences celebrity scrutiny

Critic's Take

In a tone that alternates between bemused and blunt, Alexa Camp argues that Justin Bieber’s SWAG yields only a few true pleasures amid self-regard, naming “Butterflies” and “Devotion” as the best tracks. She praises “Butterflies” for its “infectious blend of shimmery guitars, reverb-doused vocals, and shuffling drum loops,” and singles out “Devotion” as a Jack Johnson–adjacent respite. For readers asking what the best songs on SWAG are, the review points clearly to those two gems, while critiquing much of the rest as featherweight or unfinished. The result is an album where a couple of standout tracks cannot fully rescue pervasive self-aggrandizement and filler.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Butterflies" because of its infectious production and standout pop-R&B craft.
  • The album's core strengths are a few well-produced retro-tinged tracks, but they are undermined by self-aggrandizement and filler.

Themes

fatherhood self-aggrandizement retro R&B homage maudlin love songs unfinished sketches/gospel outro

Critic's Take

Justin Bieber sounds at once bruised and buoyant on SWAG, where the best tracks - notably “Butterflies” and “Devotion” - showcase his most open-hearted, melodic instincts. Rob Sheffield writes in his punchy, conversational way that the album pairs slick R&B-pop with lo-fi voice-memo sketches, and it is on songs like “Butterflies” that Bieber feels most confident and appealing. He praises the gentle warmth of “Devotion” and the stripped intimacy of “Zuma House” as among the record's most immediately embraceable moments. The result is a comeback that feels like a reckoning and a celebration at once, answering the question of the best songs on SWAG with effortless pop craft and emotional candor.

Key Points

  • The best song, "Butterflies," stands out for its open-hearted melody, bittersweet R&B tune, and quivering guitar hook.
  • The album's core strengths are emotional candor, genre-hopping production, and intimate lo-fi moments that make the record feel both personal and imaginative.

Themes

healing fatherhood confession genre experimentation lo-fi intimacy

Critic's Take

Justin Bieber arrives with SWAG, an album that flirts with reinvention while mostly circling his role as a devoted husband and father. Thania Garcia finds the best tracks—notably “Glory Voice Memo” and “Sweet Spot”—showcasing his strongest instincts: rhythm, moderation and soul even when the record tips into self-indulgence. She praises opener “All I Can Take” and the Mk.gee-tinged trio “Daisies” and “Yukon” for fresh energy, but warns that some features and detours undercut momentum. Ultimately, Garcia calls SWAG messier than triumphant, intriguing more than flawless.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Glory Voice Memo" because it captures raw vocal exultation and the album's soulful core.
  • The album's core strengths are its R&B roots, rhythmic restraint, and moments of genuine vocal passion despite uneven detours.

Themes

family and devotion R&B influence experimentation vs self-indulgence public persona

Critic's Take

In a characteristically playful tone Robin Murray argues that Justin Bieber's SWAG finds its best moments in hooks and production flourishes, singling out “ALL I CAN TAKE”, “DAISIES” and “GO BABY” as immediate highlights. Murray praises the day-glo keys and purring vocal on “ALL I CAN TAKE”, notes the palpable crunch of “DAISIES” and hails “GO BABY” as perfectly designed for sunlit cruising. He frames the album as a daring, colourful 21-track outpouring - entertaining throughout, even when its scale becomes a weakness. The review reads as admiration tempered by reservation, answering which are the best songs on SWAG with those vivid, early standouts.

Key Points

  • The best song is the opener “ALL I CAN TAKE” because of its MJ-like day-glo keys and confident vocal performance.
  • The album's core strength is its colourful, entertaining production and daring breadth, even if its 21-track scale sometimes overreaches.

Critic's Take

Justin Bieber makes a persuasive case for a throwback, passion-project turn on SWAG, where the best tracks - notably “ALL I CAN TAKE” and “BUTTERFLIES” - supply haunting, late-night 1980s R&B shimmer. Rachel Aroesti praises the album's considered, cleverly nostalgic production while flagging that the lyrics often lack specificity and feel thin. The result is an album that is seductive and subtly satisfying in its sound, even as moments like “DADZ LOVE” expose lyrical emptiness. This framing answers the question of the best songs on SWAG by pointing to those tracks that most effectively marry evocative production with emotional resonance.

Key Points

  • The best song is the opener “ALL I CAN TAKE” because it sets a haunting, late-1980s R&B tone with evocative production.
  • The album’s core strength is its considered, nostalgic production and cohesive sonic palette despite thin, clichéd lyrics.

Themes

nostalgia 1980s R&B influence fatherhood intimacy vs. artifice sonic experimentation

Critic's Take

The surprise drop of Justin Bieber’s SWAG feels like a scattershot document of impulses, where the best tracks — notably “ALL I CAN TAKE” and “DAISIES” — briefly suggest pop clarity before the record dissolves into tonal whiplash. Adam White writes with weary impatience, noting that “All I Can Take” is “the best thing here” while tracks like “Too Long” and the Sexyy Red collaboration fall flat. The album’s alternation between raunchy one-liners and gospel interludes leaves the listener uncertain where Bieber stands. Queries for the best songs on SWAG will likely point to those opening moments of melodic focus. Overall, the record rewards hardcore fans but fails to cohere into a convincing statement of artistic purpose.

Key Points

  • The best song is the opener "ALL I CAN TAKE" because it briefly achieves melodic focus and strong production.
  • The album's core strengths are occasional pretty production and moments of vulnerability, but tonal inconsistency and repetition undermine it.

Themes

tonal inconsistency religion vs. sexuality 80s pastiche repetition personal vulnerability