CREDIT: ADELE / HELLO / XL RECORDINDS & COLUMBIA RECORDS
One Direction, Justin Bieber, and Adele go head to head this week with a collection of new singles.

“Perfect” – One Direction

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

“Perfect” was released on a compilation this week that was creatively titled Perfect - EP. Although it’s technically not a single, it still deserves to be on this list because simply proclaiming something as an EP doesn’t make it so.

“Perfect” was released along with a b-side single called “Drag me Down” and two other songs which are remixes.

I’m sorry guys, but two songs and two remixes doesn’t exactly qualify as an EP. All qualms aside, One Direction seems to be getting along just fine without Zayn Malik.

Their latest track “Perfect” merges their romantic and playful boy band personas with more of a bad boy appeal.

This new direction is either a clever shift in their music, or perhaps Zayn’s departure really did shake them. Personality crisis or not, I’m just glad they’ve stopped dancing around on the beach and taking their shirts off.

“Sorry” – Justin Bieber

Rating: 3 out of 5

Justin Bieber has gone through a few identities over the years. We started with innocent little ‘baby baby’ Bieber, followed unceremoniously with the train wreck ‘bad boy’ Bieber and now we’re introduced to ‘conscious adult’ Bieber.

Whether he did too many eye-opening psychedelics with Skrillex and Diplo or actually grew up and got a reality check, this has been the easiest Bieber to deal with in a long time.

Since his comeback song “Where Are Ü Now”, Skrillex has been the driving production force behind the teen heartthrob and Bieber’s latest track “Sorry” is no different.

It’s hard to justify this as a Bieber song and not a Skrillex song, when the EDM artist’s iconic vocal samples open up the track. The lyricism in this song follows the same conscientious outlook as his previous two songs, and has garnered him a little more favour in the eyes of the media.

It’s not a fantastic song, but it’s not a complete throw away either. Skrillex knows how to produce a catchy track, and Justin knows how to deliver, well … Bieber. The only thing holding this song back is a painfully basic sounding synth line that pops up periodically. Sure the songs needed a splash of colour, but the splash in question is ice-cold salt-water in your eyes, amidst a relaxing candle-lit bath.

“Hello” – Adele

Rating: 4 out of 5

Adele has been making headlines this week with her triumphant power ballad of a revival. The song causing such an uproar is “Hello”, the first single off her long awaited album 25.

Serving as a quaint appetizer for what’s to come, the track takes a toned down approach to highlight a deeply emotional vocal performance.

Adele has said that while 21 focused heavily on breakups and remorse, 25 will be a make-up album.

Although the lyrical content has taken a refreshing tone, this track doesn’t boast much in terms of progressing musically. Perhaps this would be more of an issue if she were putting out new music every year or two, but it’s been four years since her last release, 21.

Hopefully we see a bit of evolution in her next album, but with such a gap between records, I think she can get away with sticking to what she knows.