Justin Timberlake: Neo soul in 20/20 Experience

MANILA, Philippines – Memphis, Tennessee-hailing Justin Timberlake sure has been spreading his wings real wide. 

He has long mutated into a Hollywood actor, 5-time “Saturday Night Live” host, A-list-actress lover, charity golfer, multi-restaurateur, “wardrobe malfunction” cohort, et al that it’s possible to forget that he is a musician — one sans a new album in 6 and a half years. He is not just a singer-songwriter-dancer; he is (groan) a total entertainment package, armed with a svelte aura and, at age 32, an enduring boyishness. 

That not-just factor now extends to JT’s 3rd, newest solo-billing disc, “The 20/20 Experience.” 

“Experience” is not just a new album or even just a 7-years-hence comeback album: It’s a motherload, a 12-track expanse that clocks in at almost 80 minutes (two tunes or 9 minutes less for the US, non-deluxe edition). Most of its tracks run for 7 to 8 minutes, thanks to having more layers of sound than most pop stars tend to toy with. 

It’s as if Timberlake, who co-produced “20/20,” did not just want to dish out a bunch of barefaced-catchy tunes. He seemed to have wanted to: (a) give listeners an exhaustive, your-money’s-worth package in this era of illegal downloads (adding irony to his having played Napster co-founder Sean Parker in “The Social Network”); (b) mask the fact that, his able, neo-soul falsettoing aside, JT’s voice is relatively thin; (c) ape an array of influential predecessors and such artists’ own songs or albums; and/or (c) sound “mature.”

Whatever the case vis-à-vis its concept and conception, “The 20/20 Experience” is a blast. 

As co-produced by the former ’N Sync lead with repeat collaborator Timbaland and keyboardist Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon, the album is an admirably go-for-broke sonic epic. The whole thing is replete with fickle melodies, surprise rhythms, sudden key changes and out-of-sync sonic clusters that only make sense by song’s end — the ditties’ endings themselves being extensive, 3-minute epilogues. If Pink Floyd ever did neo soul or R&B, they might have yielded something akin to Timberlake’s “Experience.” 

It’s as if JT also wanted — as he did via his “FutureSex/LoveSounds” in 2006 — to up the ante that alterna-rock star Beck had put forth via 1999’s “Midnite Vultures,” churning out a mostly upbeat, heavily mechanized and sexed-up record but without Beck’s propensity for lyrical non sequiturs. “20/20” might also remind some of Outkast’s two-disc 2003 outing “Speakerboxx/The Love Below” — an overall grandiose package that is admirable as much for its wide breadth as for its trippy treats.

And trippy treats are aplenty in “The 20/20 Experience,” and not necessarily of the insta-pop, “Rock Your Body” or “SexyBack” variety. 

The curtain-raising “Pusher Love Girl” is emblematic of the entire album’s aural ambitions: a slinky charmer that piles together Timberlake’s Prince-as-Curtis Mayfield falsettos, Motown-recalling horns by The Regiment, old Hollywood strings orchestration by The Benjamin Wright Orchestra, and Timbaland’s beatbox fills, among other elements. That opening salvo stresses another point: Whereas JT’s earlier albums, “Justified” from 2002 and “FutureSex,” sounded like club-ready fare, “The 20/20 Experience” is more of a languid, dance-at-home listen — a swell enough musical backdrop for when you feel like mentally rewinding the day’s events until sleepiness sets in.

“Suit & Tie,” which can be construed as an ode to upper-class pleasures as much as to, ahem, romantic undressing, is “20/20’s” one other memorable biggie. Juiced-up by a horn-y sampling of “Sho’ Nuff” by the soul trio Sly, Slick, and Wicked, “Suit & Tie” is by turns trudging, suave, glistening, and robotic, coming in with a shivers-down-the-spine vocal and melodic glides and a mid-song, big-boss rap by guest Jay-Z. 

“Don’t Hold the Wall” is even more exotic, its doo-woppy intro strangely giving way to Afro-beats and a repeated refrain that recalls Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland” before morphing into a straight-up dance tune for its outro. “Spaceship Coupe” is likewise a curiosity, a mirror of sorts to The Stylistics’ “You Are Everything” but more of double-meaning “ride me” invite to outer space, made naughty by salacious, if programmed, shrieks and heavy breathing. 

The late Michael Jackson has long been a running influence on Timberlake’s song-and-dance career. And it’s all the more apparent in “Let the Groove Get In,” an uppity, wild-horns ditty that samples the chant-based “Alhamdulillaahi” (off “Explorer Series: Africa-Burkina Faso: Rhythms of the Grasslands”) and ultimately comes off as a new-millennium sequel to Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.” (To be fair, “The 20/20 Experience” is the kind of record MJ could have come up with had he focused on creating more interesting ear candy post-“Thriller.”)

“That Girl,” anchored on a one-two sonic punch by guitarist Elliot Ives and The Regiment’s brassy horns, is “20/20’s” most stripped-down track and, at 4:47, is the album’s shortest tune. “Mirrors,” for its part, is a grows-on-you number that’s the closest thing to a conventional “20/20” ditty — a rather square piece that would not be out of place in JT tokayo Justin Bieber’s own discography. “Blue Ocean Floor” is fitting as “20/20’s” intended closer, if only since its somber, love-as-eternal-as-the-sea theme and tone make it sound like an outcast among the album’s livelier contents. 

NO GRAY AREAS? Here is one of two video for “Suit and Tie,” helmed by David Fincher (who had directed JT in “The Social Network”): 

While Timberlake et al’s music may be substantial, their lyrics are comparatively superficial, less aimed at relaying any significant message than being a prop for vocal catchiness. 

Words-wise, the Timberlake of “20/20” sounds like a smooth operator at large, one who’s still on the prowl even if, technically, he may well be crooning all these to his new bride, actress Jessica Biel. Some lines are downright cringe-inducing, such as “Suit & Tie’s” “Going out so hot, just like an oven / And I’ll burn myself, but just had to touch it,” and even corny, such as the drug metaphor that permeates “Pusher Love Girl.”

Its kinks aside, “The 20/20 Experience” is an altogether noteworthy addition to any adventurous listener’s physical or virtual playlist. What’s more, Timberlake has announced that “The 20/20 Experience” actually has a “second half,” one that could be due out late this year. Whether that companion album would prove to be the better half to “20/20,” it would already do good simply by bringing JT back. – Rappler.com

 

‘The 20/20 Experience’ is a RCA Records release distributed in the Philippines by Ivory Music and Video.