Music

It’s been years since Justin Bieber has been in the limelight — what’s notable is how much of that distance was voluntary, and how much of it was necessary. After his pop peak in the early to mid-2010s, Bieber was struggling with substance abuse, and also burnout from persistent public exposure. Receding was the only viable option.Now he has returned, addressing his past struggles in two fashions. On a new YouTube documentary series, he speaks candidly about his low points. And on “Changes,” his new album, he rethinks his approach to music — instead of making big-tent pop without heart, he makes R&B that’s more modest, and also more to his taste.Even though Bieber’s album doesn’t have much in common with the rest of contemporary pop music, it does find some unanticipated kinship — with Harry Styles’s recent album, which also turns its head away from prevailing pop trends, and with Selena Gomez’s latest, which also explores themes of wellness and love.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about Bieber’s return, whether it’s manageable enough to avoid the roadblocks of the past, and whether it’s significant enough to maintain his level of fame.Guest:Lindsay Zoladz, writer for The New York Times, Pitchfork and others More

Andrew Weatherall, an omnivorous D.J., producer and musician known for his impact on England’s acid house scene and for uniting rock and rave on the group Primal Scream’s album “Screamadelica,” died on Monday in London. He was 56.His managers said the cause was a pulmonary embolism.Mr. Weatherall moved to London in the late 1980s and began playing records at parties, attracting attention from D.J.s spinning acid house — a subgenre known for mixing rock music with psychedelic textures from the 1960s and so-called acidic sounds from the Roland TB-303 synthesizer.“Club culture started in 1987, and Andrew was a part of that,” the D.J. Paul Oakenfold said in a phone interview. “Everyone started to go to nightclubs because the D.J. was playing music. Today, we’re all still doing the same thing, but the only difference is, most people in the crowd have a phone in front of them.”The D.J. Danny Rampling’s weekly party, “Shoom,” began in December 1987 in the basement of an old fitness center near London Bridge. Nicky Holloway’s “Trip” night at the London Astoria brought acid house to the West End in 1988. Mr. Weatherall, who was not specially trained, became a fixture at both.“Although you may not know what you’re doing technically, you know what you’re doing structurally, arrangement-wise,” Mr. Weatherall said in an interview with the BBC, “and how it would work on the dance floor.”Though he did not seem to care about building a reputation, he nevertheless gained a steady following with his distinct remixes, which burst the parameters of genre. Remixing and producing music for artists like New Order, Happy Mondays, Björk, Siouxsie Sioux and My Bloody Valentine, he had a broad and uncategorizable body of work.Mr. Weatherall began working with the band Primal Scream in the late 1980s, remixing “I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have,” which was renamed “Loaded” and selected as the lead single for the group’s album “Screamadelica” in 1991. That album, which merged Mr. Weatherall’s psychedelic techno and deep house production with Primal Scream’s classic rock sound (and the work of other producers), became the group’s first commercial success and went on to win the British record industry’s first annual Mercury Music Prize.When asked how he created such influential work in his early 20s, Mr. Weatherall would often quote Orson Welles, who reportedly said that he had created “Citizen Kane” with “the confidence of ignorance.”“I don’t know that I’m breaking rules,” Mr. Weatherall said in the BBC interview, “’cause I don’t know what the rules are.”Andrew James Weatherall was born on April 6, 1963, in Windsor, Berkshire, to Robert Weatherall, a businessman, and Carol (Whitworth) Weatherall.He began going to music festivals and discos at the age of 14. After graduating from grammar school, he found jobs as a construction worker and a freelance journalist before moving to London. In 1990 he created his own label, Boy’s Own Productions, and in 2001 he started Rotters Golf Club, an electro record label.“I never meant this to be a career,” Mr. Weatherall said in a 2012 interview with the newspaper Liverpool Echo. “It was just a job that paid for new clothes and records.”He is survived by his father; his brother, Ian; and his partner, Elizabeth Walker.Mr. Oakenfold, a friend and collaborator for three decades, described Mr. Weatherall’s style as “collective.”“He wouldn’t follow trend; he played what he wanted to play, he made what he wanted to make, and he went on to produce and work with — at that time — some of the great bands,” Mr. Oakenfold said. “I think that’s why he was well respected, because a lot of D.J.s jumped on the scene for the wrong reasons, and he stood his ground and was like, ‘No, this is what I’m into, and this is what I want to do.’”Though Mr. Weatherall traveled between scenes and sounds, he never lost his focus on how music can foster real connections.“When you look out sometimes on the dance floor and see someone — look into someone’s eyes — and you realize they’ve never heard this music before, and it’s blowing their tiny fragile mind,” he said in a 2019 interview with Crack magazine, “that is quite energizing.” More

You probably think you know Pamela Adlon. After all, “Better Things,” her FX dramedy (which returns March 5), is deeply mined from her joys and travails as a single mother and actress raising three daughters in Los Angeles — its set and scenes liberally sprinkled with stuff she loves.Calling after making bagel chips for her youngest’s 17th birthday, Adlon slid in and out of celebrity impressions (she snared an Emmy for voicing Bobby on “King of the Hill”) as she enthused in her raspy, salty way about 10 essentials that she, and now her kids, can’t live without.“I guess I’ve proselytized my aesthetic intensely to them,” Adlon said, “because every single thing that I’m telling you about, they’re the biggest fans of, too.”These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1. “All That Jazz” There’s so many things that connect me to that movie: Bob Fosse and his Broadway legacy. I went to school with Erzsebet Foldi, who plays his daughter. And it’s not lost on me that my firstborn child’s name is Gideon. For me, the movie is perfect. You feel like you’re watching a documentary, particularly the way it starts with the audition, which I could watch on a loop every day for the rest of my life. I wrote it down on an index card on my inspiration board for when I was writing the pilot of my show because it was like he was on this hamster wheel, and every single morning he would be like, “Showtime, folks.” And that to me was what Sam Fox was going through.2. A Tribe Called Quest’s “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm” Everything on that record resonates so deeply in my DNA and also my daughters’ DNA. We know every song forward and backward. And the fact that they sampled the Lou Reed song [“Walk on the Wild Side”] on “Can I Kick It?” — Lou Reed is just a massive, massive influence for me. And the perfect blend of that, and the stories they told, and the musicality — I just think it’s the greatest record of all time.3. Norman Lear and ’70s TV “Sanford and Son” was huge. I used to walk around imitating Redd Foxx, clutching my chest, saying, “Elizabeth, I’m coming.” “All in the Family” was massive. I loved that Edith and Archie spent all this time with their adult kids. And then meeting the Jeffersons on that show and their spinoff, which became my favorite thing in the world. My father later wrote an episode of “The Jeffersons,” and I, probably their last season, was in an episode. I robbed the dry cleaners. “Good Times” freaked me out. I will never forget where Penny gets burned by the iron. Seeing that raw realness was unbelievable. And “Maude.” Everything about these five shows is the greatest thing ever. And also the theme songs just stick with me. Goddamn it, I miss theme songs.4. “The Electric Company” I could sing every song. I learned about double E. I learned about grammar. Easy Reader made reading cool. The cast, Morgan Freeman and Luis Ávalos and Rita Moreno, the diversity and all of this stuff that they put into each episode — I just loved it so much.5. Amoeba Music Amoeba Records is like every great classical store, in that it’s a giant version of a mom-and-pop store. It’s one of the greatest things in the world that we have places that have not been distilled and made current. You have this patina on everything that makes you feel human and connected.6. “Free to Be … You and Me” My dad produced a show called “AM New York,” and they were going to have Marlo Thomas on, and me and a couple of kids with her. But on the day, she got sick and couldn’t be on the show. So she signed the book for me. That just cracked my head open. All of the things that she compiled in that book and record are so relevant right now, including “Don’t Dress Your Cat in an Apron.” It’s just the most incredible thing about stop assigning labels to people because you think that’s what they are.7. “The Wiz” We used to have these things called television sets and VCRs. I videotaped “The Wiz,” and I would play a part of it and press pause. And I handwrote every single word and every single song into a spiral notebook. I could quote the whole [expletive] thing. It’s just everything to me. And because “The Wizard of Oz” is my favorite movie of all time, I just couldn’t believe that you could put a spin on something that was so huge in the first place, and tell the same story in a more profound way.8. “Fame” I gave it the same treatment. It was shocking and raw and dirty and scary. I was completely obsessed with it, so much so that later on when I did my first movie, “Grease 2,” with Maureen Teefy, who played Doris Finsecker in “Fame,” I could barely speak around her — let alone Lorna Luft, who is Judy Garland’s daughter.9. Sherman Oaks Antique Mall It’s where my oldest daughter had her first job, and every time we go, something cool happens. They say everything in there has an energy, and when an object starts vibrating, it usually gets sold. It feels like you’re going into a museum. It’s just flat out one of my favorite places to spend time at. My office is very near it. If I’m writing, I’ll go in there and just putter around, and I’m able to shut the noise off in my brain. Vintage glass is my crack.10. Tacos Mexico Tacos Mexico is a chain around the Valley, and they’re open 24 hours a day. The al pastor is my favorite, and the refried beans. I’ve been taking my kids since they were babies. We used to go to gymnastics on Saturday mornings, and instead of going to the upscale breakfast place in the Valley where people would be waiting in line for an hour, we would go into Tacos Mexico and eat like kings right away. It’s actually in Season 2. That’s the fun part of my show: I get to put places that I love in there, and I write scenes into those places. More

Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new songs and videos. Just want the music? Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes). Like what you hear? Let us know at theplaylist@nytimes.com and sign up for our Louder newsletter, a once-a-week blast of our pop music coverage.Alanis Morissette, ‘Smiling’[embedded content]“Smiling” was written for the stage adaptation of Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill,” and it sounds like it, with its theatrical crests and ominous, minor-key verses, but it’s also easy to imagine it becoming a powerful in-concert moment recalling some of Pink’s most poignant, raw ballads (Morissette will be on tour this spring celebrating the 25th anniversary of “Jagged” and the May 1 release of her first album in eight years, which includes “Smiling”). On Broadway, the new song soundtracks one of the show’s most spectacular scenes, a housewife’s “Groundhog Day” of chores and drudgery — shopping for food and opioids — acted out in slow-motion reverse. Sung here by Morissette, it’s still an excruciating document of a life slipping beyond reach. CARYN GANZWaxahatchee, ‘Lilacs’The little frictions of a continuing relationship crest and subside and continue to smolder in “Lilacs” from “Saint Cloud,” the forthcoming album by Waxahatchee due in late March. It’s an unhurried folk-rock tune, with a ticking two-chord vamp for verses, that has Katie Crutchfield examining every lingering slight and potential ambivalence while sizing up her own obsessiveness. Instead of a happy ending, there’s a tentative reckoning: “If my bones are made of delicate sugar/I won’t end up anywhere good without you.” JON PARELESOliver Malcolm, ‘Switched Up’Everything stays off-kilter for the two and a half paranoid minutes of “Switched Off” by Oliver Malcolm, a 20-year-old one-man studio band who already has a string of production credits. The drums lurch toward the offbeats, some looped guitar picking tugs against that pulse and Malcolm’s voice is a rattled, quavery moan as he complains, “Nowadays I just don’t know who my friends are.” A pitched-up snippet of the Gettysburg Address is not reassuring. PARELESKyle featuring Rich the Kid and K Camp, ‘Yes!’A pair of cheerful gimmicks animate “Yes!”: a punchy surf-rock guitar line and a charming whistle motif that recalls Juelz Santana’s “There It Go (The Whistle Song).” Kyle is perhaps the only rapper working who could pull these choices off — he’s chipper, melodic, soft-touch and a little wry. Rich the Kid and K Camp try to keep up, but it’s Kyle’s beach-blanket party. JON CARAMANICAThe Avalanches featuring Blood Orange, ‘We Will Always Love You’The Avalanches slow down their usual manic sample-guzzling and ease back on irony in “We Will Always Love You.” It’s a plush compendium of longing. Dev Hynes raps glumly about dreaming of another life but being too fearful to leave his house, Smokey Robinson croons about missing someone (“Every day we’re apart seems like a week”) and the Roches, of all people, provide the chorus. The textures are dense, but mood — not ostentation — prevails. PARELESMusic Band, ‘Over and Over’A jittery rock song that quickly finds its legs, like Tom Petty via TV on the Radio, from the Nashville trio’s April 3 album, “Celebration.” GANZCabane, ‘Take Me Home (Part 2)’Cabane is the project of a Belgian composer, Thomas Jean Henri, with indie-folk affinities; his guest vocalists include Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy). “Take Me Home (Part 2)” is an atmospheric wisp of a song, with glimmers of Leonard Cohen and Serge Gainsbourg. Shimmering vibraphone, dusty keyboard tones and fragile acoustic guitars circle behind Oldham’s perfectly understated metaphysical confession: “When the darkness came I made a pledge to stay/Before I slipped away so silently.” PARELESPat Metheny, ‘From This Place’Pat Metheny has always been a graceful pilot of lush harmonic skies, starting in the 1970s, when he worked with the keyboardist and arranger Lyle Mays, who died this month. On “From This Place,” his new album, Metheny passes through cycles and rhythms so fluidly, you hardly notice how elaborate an apparatus he’s got running behind him: He is being supported by Joel McNeely and the Hollywood Studio Symphony, as well as his mutable multigenerational quartet. Finding some kind of humbly transcendent glory in the mythos of America has always been a goal of Metheny’s music, and on the Meshell Ndegeocello-penned title track, the song’s author sings in sincere, resolute tones about the challenge of the moment: “Here I’ll stand with thee until hearts are truly free/Until hearts” — and here Ndegeocello drops to a tired, still-steadfast speaking voice — “are truly free.” GIOVANNI RUSSONELLOGeorge Burton, ‘Finding’The pianist George Burton has a shadow identity as a singer-songwriter, but he outsources the singing bit. In general, Burton likes to use his jazz quintet to ends that don’t always fit a jazz quintet’s typical method, pulling indie rock and chamber music and occasional electronic soundscaping into the mix. On “Reciprocity,” his new album, the vocalist Alexa Barchini sometimes steps in to sing Burton’s compositions. At the start and end of “Finding,” a couple extra layers of Barchini overdubs create a small ensemble of voices, matching the quintet as she sings of lasting love and never-ending awe: “I get older and never wise,” the song ends. RUSSONELLOOzzy Osbourne featuring Post Malone, ‘It’s a Raid’Well, this certainly … exists. Last year, Ozzy Osbourne had a guest appearance on Post Malone’s “Take What You Want” and it was good! Osbourne is real-time decay personified, and his singing was anguished and distant, a great match for Post Malone’s. But this completion of the favor trade feels like an unfair swap — Osbourne is in his most maniacal mode, and the production is frenzied, cluttered and agonized. Whatever Post Malone had nudged out of Osbourne has gone back into hiding. Evil Ozzy is back. CARAMANICAArca, ‘@@@@@’Defying formats as usual, Arca has made her latest single, “@@@@@,” a 62-minute excursion of ambiguous intent; near the beginning, she whispers, “psycho construct experimental diva FM.” The track pits vulnerability against brutality, prettiness against noise, whispery blurriness against brute-force distortion, continuity against rupture. Around 42:14, there’s a contentious, percussive, carnivalesque push and at the end, just when it seems cacophony might prevail, glassy, soothing harmonies arrive. Arca ends it with the sound of a kiss. PARELES More