As a fan of Justin Timberlake’s music for quite some time now, I eagerly turned up my headphones to listen to his new album, the 20/20 Experience. I feel like a little kid in a chocolate factory after a diet of strictly vegetables for years, as this is the first album Timberlake has released since the late Future Sex/Love Sounds way back in ’06. As I begin to jam out to the first track “Pusher Love Girl,” where Timberlake’s soulful falsettos chant, “I’m high up on the ceiling baby,” I have to question why he bothers to dive into acting when his talent so clearly lies in music. The 20/20 Experience is so effortlessly flawless in every way it almost seems a crime that Timberlake has not birthed more albums.
Songs like “Pusher Love Girl” “Spaceship Coupe” and “Blue Ocean Floor” all exceed a run time of 7 minutes but they feel like 3. Similar to his style in Future Sex/Love Sounds, the beats slowly fade and change to a different version of the song, however the changes move seamlessly and sound less choppy than his previous albums. In “Pusher”, JT even spits out a surprisingly catchy rap. With talent like this, it seems as if he didn’t need Jay-Z to cameo on his hit single “Suit & Tie.” It is clear that Timberlake can carry out an epic album all by his lonesome, which makes Jay-Z’s meager rap lines seem like a pathetic afterthought.
Surprisingly, the only two songs that are my least favorite on the album are his two released singles, “Suit & Tie,” and “Mirrors.” Although they are catchy, both definitely do not do the rest of the album justice.
Timberlake’s music has definitely matured- the tones of the record are joyous, and all about love; probably due to the blissful newlywed life with Jessica Biel. Like all true artists, Timberlake pours his emotional life into his music. In his first solo album, Justified, we all felt his pain when the heartbreak of losing his childhood love Britney Spears was apparent in every track.
I can only hope that another record is already in the works for Timberlake, and not another horrific acting attempt. In the meantime, I will be playing the 20/20 Experience on repeat.
Songs to check out: “Pusher Love Girl,” “Strawberry Bubblegum,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Spaceship Coup,” and “Blue Ocean Floor.”
