Back in May, Justin Bieber was spotted in Iceland, working on new music that turned out to be his latest album, Swag. He didn’t just lay down tracks while he was in the famously picturesque country, as he also took time to shoot a video for “First Place,” which he shared today (August 13).
The black-and-white visual is a slice-of-life look at how Bieber spent his time at Flóki Studios and the surrounding area: making music, smoking, getting in the water, hopping in a helicopter for a snowboarding excursion, riding bike, exploring, and otherwise enjoying nature, his company, and himself.
This comes shortly after Uproxx’s Philip Cosores visited the studio. In an Uproxx feature, Flóki Studios Director Wade Koeman discussed the appeal of recording there, saying, “I think some people, some artists, really excel and get into this place of creativity when all the distractions are gone. And that’s the idea of Flóki — you’re in the middle of nowhere in a place where, most of the time, you’ve never been. You’re just in this whole new environment and it’s beautiful and peaceful, yet it can be blizzarding and chaotic. It’s nature.”
Watch the “First Place” video above and read Uproxx’s feature on Flóki Studios and Deplar Farm here.