Billie Eilish’s re-release of her song ‘bad guy’ with an added verse from Justin Bieber was unexpected, to say the least. ‘Bad guy’ is Eilish’s highest charting track to date, so this re-release not only seems mismatched but also entirely unnecessary to the grand scheme of Eilish’s overall success.

The additional feature of such a massive artist like Bieber chips away at the edgy image Eilish has worked so hard to create. She has characterised herself as an artist who is independent, distinct and unique: dressing differently from every other female artist out there and bringing a refreshingly spooky edge to the indie-pop scene. Bieber, on the other hand, is possibly one of the most mainstream voices currently in music. They’re just too different. Eilish screams mystery, is emotionally unavailable and owes her success to Soundcloud, the music platform used by many underground and independent artists. Bieber, on the other hand, is an advert for millennial social media success in every possible way, owing his entire career to his initial discovery on Youtube in 2008.

Look, it’s not all bad. The artwork is arguably the best part, depicting a young Eilish in front of bedroom walls plastered with old-school Bieber posters. This is endearing, partly due to its close resemblance to my own teenage walls (apart from mine having considerably more Harry Styles posters); and partly due to it presenting a more likeable side of the edgy pop star. This collaboration of Eilish and Bieber is undeniably charming: it seems as if this is a genuine dream come true for young Billie.

My main discrepancy is whether either ‘bad guy’ or Eilish herself really needed the name-drop feature of Bieber. Eilish has been achieving success after success since her discovery in late 2016, most recently performing a superb set on Glastonbury’s main stage a few weeks ago. ‘Bad guy’ also seems to have had its heyday, topping charts all over the world back in the Spring. It seems highly unlikely that the addition of a short verse from Bieber will grant the song even a quarter of the original success it initially had, which leaves me to wonder why the re-release was made in the first place.

To make matters worse, I would have been willing to look past the two artists differences if the feature itself wasn’t so lacklustre and misplaced. Bieber’s verse speaks of ‘Gold teeth’ and the ‘ice on his wrist’, which is highly different from the song’s original meaning of Eilish believing she is tougher than a seemingly ‘tough guy’ ex. Bieber seems to have completely misinterpreted the tone of the song, making the feature seem rushed and carelessly added on. Bieber’s occasional ad-libs also seem to jar with the rhythm of the song: the song is just so much better without his voice on it.

I’m not criticising Bieber as an artist, anyone who knows me knows about my young teen obsession with his early music (still not over, by the way: Runaway Love is one of his best songs ever). I just feel that Eilish does not need him or any other artist to contribute to her own success. This re-release of ‘bad guy’ is just nowhere near as good as the original, sorry JB.