Who is Justin Bieber anyway?
On "Under the Mistletoe," his second studio album, the singer seems to wrestle with that question himself.
Is he still the heartthrob and pseudo-soul mate tween-aged America has become enamored with? Sure, but he also tries his hand as a cool kid rapper, political activist and thinly veiled pro-life advocate.
For his fans, that's the complexity and dynamism of his personality shining through; for "Under the Mistletoe" listeners, it's a disjointed – at times awkward – album.
To be clear, this is not a Christmas album so much as a pop album about Christmas, and that's an important distinction.
Vince Guaraldi Trio's classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is the perfect soundtrack for unwrapping presents on Christmas morning, and "All I Want for Christmas Is You" from Mariah Carey's soulful "Merry Christmas," could slip right onto any holiday film's soundtrack.
But "Under the Mistletoe" lacks any such legacy.
Sure, Bieber performs some holiday classics, and he does so quite well. He sounds near angelic, for example, on his beautiful rendition of "Silent Night."
Likewise, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" sees him singing with Usher for one of the slower tracks on the album and an enjoyable rendition of the classic song.
But he also puts a dubious twist on others, like "Drummer Boy."
If the original carol is a soft, tender number, Bieber's is an overproduced mess, featuring Auto-Tuned vocals and, inexplicably, the singer rapping alongside Busta Rhymes.
In all, it's a complete diversion from the original lyrics' meaning and feeling. Take, for example, lines like these, with which Busta Rhymes opens his verse: "At the table with the family, havin' dinner / Blackberry on our hip and then it gave a little flicker / ... Came to realize my homie Bieber hit me on the Twitter."
So goes the album, which lacks a certain holiday cheer and replaces it with the artificial and commercialized joy you might find in a Christmastime Macy's commercial.
Of course, Bieber does get into the Christmas spirit, speaking out against poverty, hunger and war.
On "Pray," a bonus track the artist originally released as a single off his 2010 album "My World Acoustic", he expresses his concern and optimism regarding some of those problems, singing, "Children are crying / Soldiers are dying / Some people don't have a home / But I know there's sunshine behind that rain."
He likewise raps on "Drummer Boy" that "it's crazy how some people say, say they don't care / When there's people on the street with no food; it's not fair / It's about time for you to act merrily / It's about time for you give to charity."
The transition to the latter line is unexpected and awkward, but in both instances, his activism of sorts feels simplistic and like a bit of a cop-out. His messages seem more befitting a response in the Miss America pageant than a genuine effort to affect positive change.
Of course, Bieber's a bit more daring and controversial in his less-than-subtle pro-life line, also in "Pray," in which he declares that "I pray for the life not started."
It seems somewhat off-putting to quietly slip in a reference to such a hot-button issue, but at some point, you have to credit him for taking a stand at all.
But Justin Bieber, of course, is not an activist or a fundamentalist so much as he is America's collective crush and his Beliebers' elusive lover — and he feeds that desire on "Under the Mistletoe," as the title suggests.
He's nearly wistful on "All I Want Is You," beckoning on "Mistletoe" and longing for "Home This Christmas." His persona is, after all, how he made his name and garnered such widespread appeal.
But that thread that connects "Underneath the Mistletoe" to his earlier catalog gives rise to a feeling that this is little more than another pop album — one that's hardly relevant during the rest of the year.