While writing with Poo Bear for his upcoming album at the time, Justin Bieber heard a demo of an instrumental piano ballad Boyd did with Karl Rubin and enjoyed it, calling it "special".

[3] Later, he and Boyd, "bounced words and melodies back and forth over an instrumental track; when they had the lyrics, Bieber sang take after take so Poo Bear could edit together the best reading of every line and every syllable.

They concocted sounds that were determinedly different from standard dance-club fare; what seems like a snare drum, for instance, is actually a tweaked version of an Indian tabla.

[9] Its instrumentation consists in "fluterring synths", skipping tropical house beats and acres of space,[10] as well as sharp dancehall stabs and an Eastern melody.

[5] As Pareles explained, "The song opens hushed and hovering, with a stereo panning whoosh, four somber piano chords and Bieber's electronically stuttered voice, leading into a mournful verse about a friend or lover he helped, who has now abandoned him.

'"[4] He continued: "Halfway through, the track pauses, then offers another hymnlike verse; the dance beat returns, a little pushier with electronic handclaps, and the refrain and 'dolphin' carry the song to the end, with a final, echoing 'I need you the most.

Billboard's Jason Lipshutz included "Where Are Ü Now" in its "Top 10 Songs of 2015 (So Far)" list, stating that "[t]his is the Justin Bieber we've been waiting for: emotive, vulnerable and smart enough to join forces with two of electronic music's most reliable maestros.

Diplo puts his own 10-ton-glowstick tendencies aside as the song combines sharp dancehall stabs and a gloriously sad Eastern melody in a way that recalls golden-age Timbaland.

"[11] Markus Papadatos of Digital Journal called it "superb", noting that the song "marks one of Justin Bieber's best vocal performances to date: it is soothing, controlled, delicate and most importantly, extremely radio friendly.

"[14] Khal of Complex noted that "the beauty is that instead of Bieber being the main dish, he's more the icing on the cake, setting a somber tone that leads into the hypnotic, emotive track.

"[15] Jon Pareles of The New York Times named it " four minutes of high-tech bliss: a sweet-voiced mixture of longing and recrimination, a lonely plaint with a dance beat.

"[19] In her Entertainment Weekly review, Leah Greenblatt explained that the song is "stripped down for maximum aerodynamics, the vocals mentholated and sweetened with a brushstroke of bass here, a snake-charmer synth line there.

"[24] Scott Wilson of Fact called it "the jewel in the crown," describing it as "a combination of slick, modern Disneyfied R&B and a synth riff that sounds like a PC Music take on Booka Shade's 'In White Rooms'.

[56] According to the duo in a post on YouTube, "We are being overwhelmed, in a good way, by the success of 'Where Are Ü Now' with Justin Bieber, so with the video we wanted to just take it back to the beginning of the record and essentially create an ode to our fans.

"[57] As described by Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone, "The video opens on an art gallery filled with photos of Bieber's silhouette before shifting to the singer offering an emotional delivery of the track in a dark room.

"[58] As noted by Emilee Lindner of MTV News, "The video portrays his internal pain with soft lighting and close-shots, but also displays him as an 'object,' like Jack Ü said, switching to a time-lapse speed while people use him as a canvas for however they want to paint him as.

[69] After performing an acoustic rendition of "Love Yourself", Bieber went to the main stage, with Skrillex "shredding on guitar and Diplo playing keyboard and pounding away on big band drums, flanked by a live drummer and onstage orchestrals.

[70] During the performance, "Bieber's crew of dancers tumbled onstage in all-white attire as women suspended in midair did acrobatics against a chrome-y, industrial video backdrop.