'Seasons' Episode 3 Review: 'Making Magic' sees Justin Bieber perfecting his music with help from Poo Bear
Episode 3, 'Making Magic', of Justin Bieber's docuseries 'Seasons' plays out like a direct follow-up to Episode 2 under the same theme with the in-studio sessions. A suggestion is that you first read up on episode 2 here. After a brief playful scolding from Bieber to producer/mixer Josh Gudwin, we immediately dive back into studios at Henson Studios, Los Angeles with Bieber and fellow producers and we are shown a surprising reveal of a Spanish/English number by the pop star titled 'La Bomba'. The track is to feature on Bieber's new album 'Changes' and we are teased a few clips on the craft behind the song. After some guidance from Gudwin on accentuating the Spanish vocals for 'La Bomba' Bieber says, "I don't speak Spanish. Singers are good at imitating, so I guess I'm just good at imitating. I can hear it and then just repeat it."
The episode goes into the nitty-gritty behind making the music with more in-studio scenes and even a scene on Bieber placing a few keycard notes on catchy lyrics for their brainstorming process. We are introduced to Poo Bear in this episode who is Bieber's main collaborator in terms of the writing. The episode reflects on the longterm relationship between the two of them with Justin saying, 'Yeah, Poo Bear has been someone who has just been in my life for a very long time and I love him and I respect him and I think he's a tremendous human being".
Gudwin reveals the sheer talent of Poo Bear stating how "he's one of the most prolific songwriters of our generation" and how he sometimes writes three songs per day, concluding, "Hundreds of songs, literally". We get to see several scenes of Poo Bear singing and sampling some lyrics for Bieber to hear (with a seriously amazing voice, to add). Poo Bear takes him through lines guiding the pop artist on the vocal note and lyrical choices and Bieber expresses, "He's so talented and he helps me articulate what I want to say better than, I think, anybody".
The latter part of the episode shows a scene where another song from 'Changes' is teased, titled 'Habitual'. Gudwin explains how he and Poo Bear got together to make the song, and in the next scene, we get to see Bieber listening to it for the first time through a demo. Bieber sits back and is left completely astonished (with yells of joy) by its awesomeness. Later in the scene, Bieber claims 'Habitual' is sure to be a hit and in reference to Gudwin dancing nearby to the song, he says, "If Josh is vibing to it, you know it's a hit". In an interview in the following scene, Bieber reveals, "It's, like, not often where I hear something right away and I'm like, 'This is so tight'". He says, "Let's get in the booth now and cut it".
At the episode's conclusion, we get to see some grueling sessions of Poo Bear and Bieber recording 'Habitual' with Poo Bear expressing his respect for Bieber. It concludes just like a wrap-up of a day in a recording studio and will treat fans to a Bieber who has pushed his star status to the side to focus more on perfecting his music.
