[11] In July, Braun gave an interview for MTV News, where he discussed the album, claiming: "For this project, we want to do things a little bit differently.
As claimed by Spin's Brandon Soderberg, "[s]onically, it's up there with Beyoncé in terms of holding tight to the patience of '80s and '90s R&B while never forgetting the sugar-rush rewards of pop."
Soderberg also reflected that Bieber was inspired by many R&B artists such as "Aaliyah, Drake, Frank Ocean, Sufjan Stevens, Sade, and Usher out of EDM mode.
"[18] The album is composed by many "slow numbers", such as "Hold Tight," "All Bad" and "PYD", which Carl Williot of Idolator considered "racy, restrained jams in the vein of The Weeknd's mixtapes (minus the danger), each utilizing the bare minimum in terms of percussion."
[19] Williot also noted that "'Roller Coaster' took the disco-pop and pop-funk[20] craze of 2013 and marries it to trap stomps,[16] as well as "freestyle-meets-Sonic the Hedgehog roller-skating grooves", completed Soderberg.
[1] "Bad Day" and "Swap It Out" flirt with late nostalgic '90s R&B/bling rap sweet spot, while "Confident" and closer "Memphis" channel Timbaland's prime with their brittle, syncopated percussion and background yelps.
"[16] "Change Me', as noted by Soderberg, has a "The Tony Rich Project" feel to it, while "Backpack" is a futuristic pop song with a guitar solo.
[1] The music is slower and more restrained, with clean-toned electric guitar licks and gently stuttering R&B groove;[20] "Recovery" features a "Craig David-sampling swoon" of "Fill Me In", "All that Matters" pushes Bieber's "earnest vocal into the limelight over an instrumental that relies on little more than swirling guitar strums and plush bass," and "Heartbreaker" features "chords [that] swim in and out of focus over a low-slung groove and vocals [that] float menacingly somewhere over your head" as Fact's Aimee Cliff noticed.
[21][22][23] It finds the singer apologizing, taking responsibility for bad behavior and pledging lifelong faithfulness, while also talking about sex in some songs.
[23] Adam R. Holz of Plugged In (publication) noted that "'Journals' is a mournfully desperate, frequently "freaky" set of songs that finds the 19-year-old Canadian singer begging for a second chance with an ex.
"[23] "Hold Tight" "focuses almost exclusively on sex," while "Recovery" finds Bieber " taking responsibility for mistakes and praying for a second chance.
"[2] The bonus song, "Flatline", "explores a failed relationship, due to his busy schedule and the girl in question always contacting him at the wrong times, then not returning the phone calls he attempts to make.
[38] On December 9, 2013, Bieber announced that the ten Music Monday releases would be packaged with an additional five new songs in a compilation titled Complete My Journals.
[39] According to one of its producers, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, the label did not support the album because it wasn't the direction they wanted Justin to go.
In a positive review, Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times praised the "tunes that take up his evolving reputation with surprising candor" as well as the fact that "he's using that voice to confront the awkward aging-in-public process head-on."
"[1] Ben Rayner of Toronto Star applauded Bieber's voice, calling it "sufficiently well suited to the material that he can almost sell his new persona."
"[19] Niko John of Absolute Punk went on to write that "'Journals' is undoubtedly his greatest work to date and shows a more mature, sexual side to the Canadian pop-star.
"[40] Sandeep Singh of Verdens Gang wrote that Journals is "neither a profound diary or a studio album it could have been [...] But this is undoubtedly the best Bieber has bubbled up to now.