Entertainment

'Purpose' Album Art Shows Justin's Vulnerability

by Maggie Malach

With a little more than a month until Justin Bieber's new album Purpose drops, fans are getting more and more excited. 2015 has been good to Beliebers, who waited a long time for new music from the singer. Bieber just shared four different versions of the Purpose album art and it gives us a lot to ponder in regards to the new music.

Back in March, Bieber spoke with USA Today about his new music, describing it as:

About growing, being in touch with yourself. What can I say, it's life experiences, and knowing that you can and get back up and keep going. Hope and faith, that's what's gotten me through this too, my faith. What I believe in. You're around some people sometimes and it might taint what you believe. I think that's what happened with me, I lowered my beliefs.

This totally fits in with the title of "Purpose," since it seems like Bieber is trying to re-establish his. This brings us to the artwork, which shows the singer standing shirtless with his fingertips touching. He seems to be deep in thought and the entire image is interspersed with what looks like graffiti.

Bieber's expression says it all. This is introspective, perhaps even more intimate than Journals, whose title alone reflects how personal it was to the singer. "Personal" seems to be an influential part of the album campaign, as Bieber continually reminds fans of how connected he is to this particular batch of music. The emotional response to his music reached a peak when Bieber cried at the 2015 MTV VMAs.

The fact that he's shirtless on the purpose album cover drives home this vulnerability. He's quite literally baring himself with this album, which means that we can look forward to some seriously emotional songs. "What Do You Mean?" showed that the singer's sound has matured, and the full-length project is sure to reflect that as well.

You can check out the different versions of Bieber's album cover in the photos above and below.

Images: Island Def Jam (screenshot); Justin Bieber/ Instagram (3)