There are times, understandably rare, when the release of a new album is considered an event more than anything else. Justin Timberlake’s return to music is one of those times.
It’s been almost 7 years since Timberlake’s previous solo effort, the anthemic ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’ was released. The album heralded a new direction for the former boyband star; not only driving far more diversification than his debut release ‘Justified’, but also signalling an invite for an increased fan-base along with a permanent eradication of the tiresome question “when are N*Sync reforming?” by naysayers. It earned him the ‘cool’ credential as well as ‘credible’ – a word rarely given to any ex-boybander.
What’s more, the album, whilst not initially ‘loved’ by existing fans, became one of those that actually enriched some form of future legacy. Inclusions such as ‘My Love’ and ‘Losing My Way’ drove longevity, whilst standout ballad ‘What Goes Around (Comes Around)’ helped cement Timberlake along the road to music royalty.
In essence, FutureSex/LoveSounds set the bar and raised the standards of what would be acceptable in a mainstream musical release.
In the seven years that has passed, we’ve seen some mammoth changes in the music scene; the rise, and [subsequently dark] fall, of Amy Winehouse, music piracy reaching record levels (and then plummeting again), Myspace highs [then lows], the introductions of the ‘new-wave’ of mobile phones, and the impact of instant streaming, and the web, in driving new artists into a previously unheard-of space.
Earlier this week, Timberlake took advantage of his ‘always-on’, web-connected fanbase and opened his new album ‘The 20/20 Experience’, up for global streaming 7 days before global release. There’s 10 tracks on here (Deluxe Editions will feature 12), with seven of them going on for more than 7 minutes apiece, so whilst it’s not a large album in terms track numbers, the songs are clearly topic-led as opposed to time-led.
One major point to note, is that this is a Justin Timberlake release. He could easily have gone through the ‘easy’ [yet quite frankly irritating] route of soul-destryoing Guetta-esque beats and cranked up a Platinum seller. However Timberlake being Timberlake used this opportunity to create an album both amiable and beautiful versus a plain rehash of the aforementioned DJ-beats. To be clear, there’s fairly little in the way of innovation here – Timberlake left his sophmore effort to do that. ‘The 20/20 Experience’ is, essentially, an ode to the kind of styles of music that JT likes. He’s made it fairly transparent that this is an album for him, not anyone else. If you want to go with him to enjoy the journey, then he’ll invite you, but he’s happy if you want to sit this one out too.
As most of you will have realised, ‘Suit & Tie’ grows with every listen – it has similar tones in neuro-progression that SexyBack did; a ‘what the hell’ to begin with, and then a complete change of mind when you hear it in a different situation. ‘Suit & Tie’ is wondrous; just like the album it’s not for everyone, but it’s a fantastic song, combining the right levels of orchestra with JT’s smooth vocals.
The album’s opener, ‘Pusher Love Girl’, sounds very, erm, ‘Prince’. That’s no bad thing whatsoever. It’s a funky ballad that properly gets your head nodding and your foot tapping. It’s not exceptional, but then neither is the album, however it’s a completely different pace than what we’ve come to expect (or endure) from other mainstream albums over the past few years.
Long-time producer/friend Timbaland turned up the Bollywood-heat with ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’ – Timberlake’s voice really does work across that space, something you’ll need to hear to believe, whilst the funky ‘Strawberry Bubblegum’ contains more than a hint of pre-Bad Michael Jackson. That’s a great thing and works incredibly well. It harks back to the 60s, with the keyboards taking centre-stage; nice touch.
Then it’s onto ‘Tunnel Vision’, one of the ‘shorter’ tracks on the album, at just under seven minutes. It switches between a multitude of different sounds without any kind of story connecting them together. One of the shortest on the album, yet also one of the weakest.
Next track ‘Spaceship Coupe’ just feels fairly ornate, however it’s the masterful ‘That Girl’ where the soulfulness becomes omnipresent, and again sets to raise the bar. Tracks ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Suit & Tie’ you all know fairly well by now, but they’re both great bookends to the album.
To its credit, whilst ‘The 20/20 Experience’ may not have been the third album many were hoping for, it is still by far and away a brilliant piece of work. It has given listeners a shield against the trash that’s been charting of late and that’s no bad thing. The album will make your head bop and your toes tap, and hell, isn’t good music meant to make your body move anyway?
I’ll leave you with two more thoughts:
1) This is still only his third debut album – Rihanna’s carved up more 6 albums in the period of post-FutureSex/LoveSounds. There’s still progression there for Timberlake, he’s just taking his time.
2) Justin is a musician AND an entertainer. For anyone who has been to his live shows, you’ll understand how much he draws you into his world – it’s a skill that very few modern-day acts can proudly say they can achieve.
Just like Timberlake fit the boyband mould some 15 years ago, he’s now earned his place amongst solo royalty. Welcome back.
‘The 20/20 Experience’ is available to purchase here
