"Hold Tight"

Justin Bieber, album not yet titled

The third in Justin Bieber’s single series Music Mondays, “Hold Tight” takes the teen pop sensation one step further in his evolution to adult R&B artist. Minimalist and sparse with whispers of synth, the track allows Bieber to showcase his vocal ability without risk of being overpowered by heavy backing instrumentation. The song is the sexiest yet in the Music Monday series, as Bieber delivers variations on “Hold on tight / Your lips won’t let me go” in a surprisingly husky croon, signaling his growing appeal to a more adult audience.

"It's About Time"

Young the Giant, Mind Over Matter

Three years have elapsed since the release of Young the Giant’s eponymous debut album, and it truly is about time that the band turned out new material. Now signed to Fueled by Ramen, the masterminds behind pop-punk phenomena Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy, the Irvine-based band have released a single that seems only to homogenize them with the rest of the bands on their new label. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia’s scratchy half-yelling sounds far more like Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump than it does his typical smooth, soothing style. “It’s About Time” marks the disappearance of the optimistic Young the Giant, with their characteristic beachy California sound, leaving instead a much darker group devoid of the cheerful naïveté of its younger years.

"How I Feel"

Flo Rida, The Perfect 10

In paying tribute to “Feeling Good,” Flo Rida’s new single does an injustice to Nina Simone. The song is a carbon copy of his 2009 club anthem “Right Round,” with a near-identical pounding beat and monotonous vocal delivery. While “Right Round” was far from a work of musical genius, “How I Feel” seems even less inspired. Even the sampling of Simone’s classic hit falls short: it seems the rapper has merely cut and spliced “Feeling Good” and clumsily inserted his own vocals in between the fragments with little to no transition, resulting in a poorly constructed, overdone track that makes no musical innovations and promises to soon fade into obscurity.