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Justin Timberlake's New Album Proves That Hindsight Isn’t Always 20/20

Cortney Riles |
March 15, 2013 | 5:02 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Justin Timberlake's third album has been a long time in the making. (via Wikimedia)
Justin Timberlake's third album has been a long time in the making. (via Wikimedia)
Justin Timberlake is ready. Or so he said in a promotion of his new album “The 20/20 Experience,” which comes out on the 19th.

That day (January 10th) Timberlake fans were wired into YouTube while Facebook statuses and tweets had “JT is back” written all over them. The excitement was unreal and rightfully so.

The Mickey Mouse Club member turned N'Sync leader turned hot solo artist redefined pop with his flawless second album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds," almost seven years ago. And then he disappeared from the music scene, started a clothing line (William Rast), dabbled in acting (The Social Network) and played some golf. Oh, and he tied the knot too.

During that time Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and the other Justin—Bieber—took over and pop took on an entirely different meaning. So, when Timberlake fans heard he was coming out with a new album, not to mention a single with Jay-Z, excitement was an understatement.

What they didn’t know, however, is that Timberlake was coming back but not the way they knew him before. Not the “Senorita,” “Sexyback” stud that made every male artist want to solely sing in falsetto.

Sure, the falsetto is still there and lovely as ever, but “The 20/20 Experience,” which definitely doesn’t fit today’s definition of pop, doesn’t stand out as anything much better than “Beauty and A Beat.” 

It’s a musical journey that takes listeners from the club (per usual) to driving home through a tunnel to flying high in a space ship and ending on beach. Granted, it’s better than half of what the radio plays, but if you’re looking for the old, pop redefining JT, you’ll have to look past his most recent album.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as you leave those old expectations behind, before pressing play.

The 10 tracks, all but one averaging seven minutes, take on a neo-soul vibe. But rather than focusing on the voice that resembles Maxwell's or D’Angelo's, the songs are heavily produced, leaving the listener overwhelmed by searing synths and abrupt rhythm changes.

“Pusher Love Girl,” also known as the "love is a drug" tune, kicks off the album with a stable groove, with engaging chord progressions and Timbaland’s fingerprints all over the track.

Indeed, no verbal or written evidence is needed when it comes to questions of who helped produced this album. “Don’t Hold The Wall,” with a deceiving Boys II Men 17-second harmony, is the Tim’s (Timberlake and Timbaland) instructions to dance. Or rather, a slower, more recent version of “Release” off of Timabaland’s “Shock Value” album.

“Strawberry Bubblegum” placed the trademark falsetto and harmonious repetitions over a funk-flexing track with syncopated rhythms. If you’re still looking, this is the closest you’ll get to “Sexyback.”

Things pick up with “Tunnel Vision,” as the vocal build up in the chorus really does make you feel like you’re going 80 on an empty highway, not to mention the “zoom zoom zoom” before the instrumental break four and a half minutes in. 

Get out of the car and head into space for a slower journey on “Spaceship Coupe.” It’s the closest we get to a slow jam on the album, and it's a fairly entertaining one at that. “That Girl” kindly reminds us of Timberlake’s Memphis roots while “Let the Groove Get In” brings back the exotic rhythms and instructions.

We even get a touch of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long.” But instead of singing those instructions like he did on “Don’t Hold The Wall” Timberlake chants them. Over and over again. “Are you comfortable right there right there? Let the groove in there there right there,” he says.

Timberlake ends with a surprise and, well, a bang. The Telepopmusik, Zero 7-esque instrumental resemblance of “Blue Ocean Floor” is the last thing you’d expect from Timberlake. It strips the syncopation and synths, replacing them with rewinding tapes and crashing waves. Most importantly it places Timberlake’s voice at the center, as it should be, always.

Timberlake is talented to say the least. There’s no doubt (unlike a lot of popular artists today) that he can sing, or that he can dance, write and produce for that matter.

But on his latest album Timberlake neglects to let his vocals speak for themselves. The songs are unecessarily over-produced that detracts from the heart of his talent. It’s not pop and although it pulls from some of the R&B and soul greats, it’s neither of those genres either.

More importantly it’s not Timberlake, an artist who's been able to merge the music of the veterans with the rookies and create something original and instantly gratifying.

“Suit & Tie,” the first track off the album, which will also hold number on the pre-prom playlists this year and “Mirrors” the ultimate love declaration were the first two songs we heard and unfortunately the best. Timberlake stepped out of his league on this one, but unexpectedly did not create a new one.

“The 20/20 Experience” is underwhelming. The tracks keep you waiting for something big, something “JT-like” to happen but after 7 minutes you’re where you started, waiting. The album might climb the charts by default, but it will be hard for this one to look or sound any better in hindsight.

Read more of NT's album reviews here.

Reach Staff Reporter Cortney Riles here



 

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