Justin Bieber Drops ‘Recovery’ As Almighty iTunes Battle Begins [Listen]
If Justin Bieber’s iTunes battle with Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift last Sunday was a nerve-shredder, this week turns that heat higher. The 19-year-old’s latest, fourth single “Recovery” goes head to head with some of the biggest names in pop, R&B and rap.
Bieber is releasing 10 singles over 10 weeks in a drive called “Music Mondays,” which will lead-up to the Christmas debut of his upcoming movie-documentary Believe. Over the last three weeks, he has dominated iTunes No.1 and/or Top 5 spots around the world (notable exceptions, US and UK) with previous three singles “Heartbreaker,” “All That Matters,” and to a lesser extent, “Hold Tight.”
However, entering the battlefield this week are, Lady Gaga with her latest single “Venus” taken from her upcoming ARTPOP album. It was released to iTunes in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia hours before the other contenders.
As of press time, it has powered to No. 1 on iTunes Italy,Turkey, Russia, France, Japan, Switzerland, Holland, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, South Africa and Brazil. The mother monster has yet to dislodge Lorde’s “Royals” on iTunes US as she did briefly with “Do What U Want ft. R.Kelly” last week.
Bieber’s “Recovery” will also face off against Eminem’s expected new single “The Monster,” a cut from his upcoming Marshall Mathers LP 2 album reportedly premiering today. The tracks features Rihanna in her fourth outing with the rapper.
Into the mix, rapper-producer Future releases new single “Real &True” from his imminent “Honest” album. The song features Miley Cyrus and Mr. Hudson.
Bringing up the rear, One Direction dropped their new single “Story of My Life” at midnight (GMT) using the “Instant Grat” method used by Gaga on “Do What U Want” and “Applause.” This means it not only sold as a stand-alone but automatically downloaded free to anyone who pre-ordered their album, Midnight Memories (Deluxe.)
At press time “Story of My Life” has hit No. 1 on iTunes Philippines, New Zealand, Norway, and Australia.
With an eye on a highly competitive field, Bieber released “Recovery” before its expected midnight premiere. “It’s here. One of the most important songs to me I’ve ever written. #Recovery. Hope it helps you! (sic),” he announced on Twitter.
Like previous “Music Mondays” songs, the Canadian’s latest single is a relationship themed, R&B oriented jam. The mid-tempo features a guitar sample of British artist Craig David’s 2000 hit, “Fill Me In,” who actually tweeted his approval earlier.
“So many great memories flood back when hearing this guitar riff. Well done @justinbieber sounding great,” David wrote.
On the first verse Justin sings, “First I’ll acknowledge / All trust has been broken / A successful recovery / I prayed for us at night / Bless me with a second chance / Never thought I’d see your face again / Learned a lot though trial and error / I try to make it right.”
On the chorus he vows, “Make it right / Make it right / Make it right / This time i’ll do you right, oh.”
Explaining the background to “Recovery” in a note, Bieber wrote,
“Recovery is an acknowledgement that in life you just can’t fall down and not get over things. You have to step up and recover.”
He added, “At the time I was going through a very hard break up and when you’re going through stuff like that you think the world is just gonna end. Then you wake up the next day and realize that life has to go on. Recovery is that feeling you get when you start to move on and make things better for yourself, because yesterday is gone and tomorrow is here. JB.”
Cue continued Selena Gomez speculation and an epic iTunes battle.
To read full “Recovery” lyrics click here.
