Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson announced earlier this year that they would be teaming up to release a joint acoustic album. And ever since that September announcement, the two teen idols have largely remained quiet on the music front... until today (Nov. 11). Now, Bieber and Simpson have released their first single from their joint album, the relaxed "Home to Mama."
Though Bieber's most recent works, including 2013's album Journals bent more toward a modern R&B vibe a la Chris Brown, "Home to Mama" feels far more like a Jack Johnson single than something that's going to get bumped in the clubs.
In the album announcement earlier this fall, Simpson revealed that he and Bieber wanted to make something different than their normal brand of pop and that he was encouraged to be a true singer-songwriter. "He told me he felt like I'd figured myself out and have grown into what he knows I will be so he was like, 'I see you as that guitarist, singer-songwriter you've always wanted to be.' I play all the guitars on the album," Simpson said.
And that influence shows. "Home to Mama" features guitar work not unlike that of John Mayer, with the chilled out vibes reflecting Bieber's vocals in the latter part of the song, resulting in a call-and-response verse that is far more folksy than anything in either Bieber's or Simpson's discographies.
To go along with the slowed down tempo and laidback vibes, "Home to Mama" talks about a girl who is just so nice and simple, that she's, well, the kind you'd introduce to your mama.
"The one I wake up thinking 'bout / The one I can run to when I'm feeling down / Life is all good when you're around / Girl, nobody from the past is beating you right now / 'Cause I take you home to mama / Let you meet my friends / 'Cause you don't come with drama / So I want you 'til the world ends," Simpson sings in the first chorus before describing his new love as "my kind of perfect."
"Home to Mama" is a more grown up version of Bieber, taking away all the sex and controversy from his more R&B fueled journal. As for Simpson, this song helps to define who he can really be as a singer and artist in his own right... and it's quite the unexpected path.
Listen to Justin Bieber and Cody Simpson's "Home to Mama" below:
