FutureSex/LoveSounds — Justin Timberlake
Jive
2006
Rating:


The release of "Justified" in 2002 put overeager pop critics in a tizzy. Long in search of the next Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake was named heir apparent to the King of Pop, pushing aside other usurpers like Usher. Yet "Justified" wasn't as "Off the Wall" as Timberlake's supporters wished it was, and the four years during which Timberlake lay dormant only served to make the MJ comparisons all the more questionable.

With "FutureSex/LoveSounds," Timberlake finally earns that honor and, surprisingly, finds him traveling the more sonically adventurous and lyrically sexual road of Prince. Timberlake took on the fedora and single sparkly glove of Jackson during "Justified," but JT seems unlikely to start writing "Slave" across his right cheek. The Purple One's influence is still palpable, however, especially on the "Sexy Dancer"-evoking "Sexy Ladies" and the "Adore"-quoting "Until the End of Time."

The new inspiration is one of the best things to happen to pop music right now. Following the boy band implosion, pop has been reduced to deafening blandness, making Timberlake's forays into relatively experimental pop all the more stunning.

No cipher (no matter what the naysayers say), Timberlake is daring enough to forge new territory in pop the way Prince used to. In Timbaland, Timberlake has found the perfect cohort for blowing the minds of those who still associate JT with *NSYNC; in many ways, he has become Timberlake's Quincy Jones.

The first evidence of the two Timboes monumental collaboration is lead single "SexyBack." An aural virus if there's ever been one, "SexyBack" has the lyrics of Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" ("You see these shackles? Baby I'm your slave / I'll let you whip me if I misbehave") and the sonic equivalence of rough sex beneath neon lights in Miami.

Corroboration comes from the colossal "My Love." Considering Timbaland's illustrious career, it says something that this is one of his finest efforts. Stabbing, eddying synthesizers, squashing bass drum and Timbaland's beatbox merge for a sound that's more future-love than future-sex: in falsetto Timberlake sings, "If I wrote you a love note / And made you smile at every word I wrote (What would you do?) / Would it make you want to change your scene / And be the one on my team?"

Deeper cuts reveal work that's every bit as scintillating, especially on the epic, duel axis songs "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" and "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around," both of which time in at more than seven minutes. The intrinsically funky beatboxing of "LoveStoned" (a brilliant melding of MJ and Prince influences) gives way to the despondent panic of "I Think She Knows." "What Goes Around" revisits the melancholy greatness of "Cry Me a River" with a sitar loop, but this time there's more resentment to Timberlake's despair at losing a lover. "Should've known better when you came around / That you were gonna make me cry" he sings before he more angrily spits at song's end, "I heard you found out / That he's doing to you / What you did to me / Ain't that the way it goes." With Britney Spears' recent marital troubles taken into consideration, one can't help but feel that Spears is still the subject of Timblerlake's heartbroken ire. If so, it seems the greatest thing Spears has done for pop music is break Timberlake's heart.

"FutureSex/LoveSounds" isn't a perfect album — the drug fable "Losing My Way" and the faux male bluster of the Three 6 Mafia-guesting "Chop Me Up" are cringe-worthy missteps — but it's the first where Timberlake justly earns the right to wear the King of Pop crown.

Posted Thursday, December 14, 2006

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http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/music/justin.timberlake/futuresex.lovesounds