Justin Bieber Releases First Solo Single In Years With ‘Friends’

When Justin Bieber cancelled the remaining 14 dates of his Purpose World Tour in July, he left many fans angry and upset. But for the singer that has been in the spotlight for almost a decade and has spent the last 18 months on tour, knowing when to say stop and taking some time off is exactly what Bieber needs to do to be around for another 10 years for his fans.

It’s been almost two years since Bieber released his last solo album, with Purpose spawning a number of huge hits, including “Love Yourself” and “What Do You Mean.” This year the singer has returned to the charts in a big way, teaming up for some huge collaborations. Bieber hit the studio for the first time with David Guetta for the track “2U” and was one of the artists on the long list of names for DJ Khaled’s easy listening summer hit “I’m The One.”

Now, Bieber has dropped his new single “Friends,” an impressive dance pop track that brings in many of the musical elements he experimented with on Purpose. Teaming up once again with BloodPop, who co-wrote five of the tracks found on Purpose including “Sorry,” the pair have penned a song that tackles the difficult transition of going from lovers to friends.

Bringing in sounds of Robyn, Skrillex and Major Lazer, Bieber sings, “Girl, you wonderin’ why I’ve been callin’?/ Like I’ve got ulterior motives/ No, we didn’t end this so good/ But you know we had something so good,” and, “So I’m wondering, can we still be friends?/ Can we still be friends?/ Doesn’t have to end/ And if it ends, can we be friends?”

It’s unclear whether the new single is a one-off or part of Bieber’s next album. With his recent tour cancellation, now seems like a good time for Bieber to fully step away from the spotlight and take some time to live his life in private and gather new material for his future projects. If having a few weeks of rest can result in a banger like “Friends,” we can’t imagine what an entire album after a year off will sound like.