Justin Timberlake‘s sixth album begins with hints of an existential disaster. “I imply, what’s higher than having every little thing that you simply dreamed of? / Lengthy as they want you, you don’t want love,” he croons over woozy, The Weeknd-esque beats. Named after the Tennessee metropolis the place he was born and raised, melancholy bop ‘Memphis’ chronicles the immense stress he felt to succeed – “simply be nice – placed on on your metropolis, on your state” – and the inevitable collateral harm. “Who cares if there’s an excessive amount of in your plate? Don’t make no errors and conceal your ache,” he sings in a suitably disassociated tone.
‘Memphis’ is Timberlake at his most reflective, nevertheless it’s a deceptive opening tune. ‘All the things I Thought It Was’, the singer’s first album since 2018’s ‘Man Of The Woods’, on which he integrated a smattering of nation and Americana into his slinky nu-disco sound, usually cleaves to his musical consolation zone. ‘Liar’ is an efficient foray into Afrobeats territory with a verse from Nigerian star Fireboy DML and ‘Sanctified’ presents an audacious conflation of rock and gospel. However most of this album offers us classic – or at the very least typical – JT, which implies shameless intercourse jams and funky membership bangers.
‘Fuckin’ Up The Disco’, one in every of three tracks co-produced by Calvin Harris, presents a shiny trendy replace of Michael Jackson‘s ‘Off The Wall’ sound. ‘Play’ sounds a bit like Prince riffing on David Bowie‘s ‘Fame’, solely with lyrics about sipping “that bougie rosé“– presumably Echo Falls doesn’t make the grade chez Timberlake. ‘No Angels’, one other membership strut co-produced by Harris, proves Timberlake hasn’t misplaced his penchant for tacky chat-up traces. “‘Trigger you’re lookin’ like gasoline and I’m lookin’ for mileage,” he purrs, maybe cosplaying as a attractive petrol station attendant.
‘Infinity Intercourse’, one in every of a number of tracks co-produced by Timbaland, a mainstay on each Timberlake album since his 2002 solo debut ‘Justified’, options equally questionable come-ons. “Quickly as all of your garments hit the ground, pray this resort room is insured,” he sings in a sultry staccato earlier than delivering a lower than reassuring platitude: “The long run is a large number, however your current is one of the best.” Let’s hope his lover wasn’t sharing her crippling local weather change nervousness as they checked into the room.
Cringe lyrics aren’t the one acquainted a part of the package deal. ‘Technicolor’, one in every of a number of tracks co-produced by Timberlake’s longtime collaborator Timbaland, is a two-part epic that begins as a sultry R&B ballad earlier than morphing right into a percolating midtempo. It’s achieved however much less hanging than the tune suites Timberlake and Timbaland constructed on 2006’s ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’, the singer’s wonderful second album that is still his profession’s greatest. ‘Flame’, an emotional slowie a few dying relationship, looks like an try and recreate the sophisti-pop grandeur of ‘What Goes Round… Comes Round’, a standout ‘FutureSex/LoveSounds’ single.
It doesn’t assist that almost all of those songs and the album as an entire are barely too lengthy. Clocking in at a slither underneath 77 minutes, ‘All the things I Thought It Was’ is a slog enlivened by some shocking moments. One among these comes on penultimate monitor ‘Paradise’, when Timberlake reunites together with his NSYNC bandmates for what is basically a recent model of a Y2K-era boyband ballad. It’s a bit drippy but in addition unexpectedly touching, not least as a result of Timberlake generously shares lead vocals with former bandmate JC Chasez.
However in a method, ‘Paradise’ factors to a bigger drawback: a prevailing lack of vulnerability and heat that his profession would profit from at this level. Lately, Timberlake’s repute has been dented by a well timed reappraisal of the way in which he emerged comparatively unscathed from the 2004 Tremendous Bowl halftime present controversy whereas his duet companion Janet Jackson was scapegoated.
In the meantime, Britney Spears‘ followers have identified compellingly that Timberlake handled the singer lower than chivalrously within the wake of their 2002 breakup. At a current gig in New York, Timberlake instructed the viewers earlier than singing ‘Cry Me A River’, his 2002 hit broadly presumed to be about Spears: “I’d prefer to take this chance to apologise to completely fucking no one.”
Due to this, Timberlake is a much less beloved pop famous person than he most likely needs to be 25 years after he sang “It’s gonna be might” on an era-defining NSYNC banger. ‘All the things I Thought It Was’ exhibits he hasn’t misplaced his vocal chops or capacity to work a groove, nevertheless it doesn’t do sufficient to make you block out previous misdemeanours. For now, Timberlake’s problematic fave period should wait.
Particulars
- Report label: RCA Information
- Launch date: March 15