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Music Review:
FutureSex/LoveSounds, Justin Timberlake
FUTURESEX/LOVESOUND
1. FutureSex/LoveSound
2. SexyBack (featuring Timbaland)
3. Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk to You (Prelude)
4. My Love (featuring T.I.)
5. Love Stoned/I Think She Knows (Interlude)
6. What Goes Around.../...Comes Around (Interlude)
7. Chop Me Up (featuring Three 6 Mafia and Timbaland)
8. Damn Girl (featuring will.i.am)
9. Summer Love/Set the Mood (Prelude)
10. Until the End of Time (featuring The Benjamin Wright Orchestra)
11. Losing My Way
12. (Another Song) All Over Again
JUICY TIDBITS
First, some news: The good news is that the teenybopper that still haunts our memories from time to time has officially left the building. And, depending on your opinion of the young crooner, the other news is that he’s still as horny as ever.
I know it’s weird to say, but all this extra energy actually works in his favour.
FutureSex/LoveSounds is Justin Timberlake’s second studio album in four years – which makes this a very long hiatus, especially when you’re dealing with the music industry. But in the four years that Timberlake was absent from our playlists, he was still around – popping up in various collaborations, punching out photographers, denying rumours that he and Cameron Diaz had broken up, denying rumours that he and Cameron Diaz were tying the knot, and occasionally bopping along to Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous.” And just like a bottle of fine wine, the time spent fermenting out of the studio was just what he needed to make a splashy comeback.
Teaming up with best-friend-4-evah Tim Mosley yet once again, Timberlake released “SexyBack” as his first single. Despite the fact that I initially thought “SexyBack” was about someone’s sumptuous ass, I instantly liked the song, thanks to Timbaland’s trademark stutter beat and Timberlake’s boyish charisma. (I swear, when Timberlake sings, it’s like he’s discovering sex for the very first time.) Although I now know that the song is actually about his raging cockiness (“I’m bringing sexy back/You motherf*ckers watch how I attack/If that’s your girl, you better watch your back/’Cause she’ll burn it up for me and that’s a fact”), it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a brilliantly produced song. “SexyBack” has been Timberlake’s most successful single to date.
Mosley’s significant and self-assured touch doesn’t go unnoticed in this concept album (if you look at the song names carefully, you might see a loose pattern emerge). Tracks are almost seamlessly spliced into a collage, with one song often flowing into the next. Soul, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, and disco are fused together to create innovative and experimental sounds. This is what Justified strived to be, had it not ultimately fallen apart at the end – which reminds me very much of Ashlee Simpson’s career, actually.
Besides having a gimmicky title, “What Goes Around…/…Comes Around” is an otherwise excellent song, and might very well be my favourite from the album. Dubbed “Cry Me A River 2006” (which Timberlake vehemently denies…much like he did with “Cry Me A River”), the seven-and-a-half minute song explores the travails of a rough break-up. The R&B ballad features strong beats and haunting strings as Timberlake teaches all of us a very good lesson: “What goes around, goes around, goes around/Comes all the way back around.” And just so we won’t forget, it’s sung in his trademark falsetto. Thankfully, that’s kept to a minimum here, and we can all enjoy his effortless vocals. At the break, Timberlake switches gears as the song speeds up with staccato beats, and with all the attitude he can muster, sings, “You spend your nights alone/And he never comes home/And every time you call him/All you get is a busy tone/I heard you found out/That he’s doing to you/What you did to me/Ain’t that the way it goes.” Ooh, burn on you, Britney! Of course, this has nothing to do with exes or the much-publicized turmoil between the Spears-Federline union. Timbaland also makes a cameo to show his support – watch out for this, for it happens quite often.
“My Love,” the second single to be released from FutureSex/LoveSounds, features Timberlake channeling Prince. Somehow, this succeeds on many levels, much like the time Timberlake channeled Michael Jackson. “My Love” is a song with a backbone – heavy R&B beats permeate throughout, with a faint synthesizer working in the background. The song itself is sweet, but would be sweeter if Timberlake didn’t sound as if he were singing it only to get into your pants later. And by the time T.I. steps in for his verse, any lingering romantic feelings are completely eradicated.
The album features several tracks that are effectively two songs merged into one: “Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk to You (Prelude),” “Love Stoned/I Think She Know (Interlude),” and “Summer Love/Set the Mood (Prelude).” Most of these are just really long songs and, for the most part, work. What doesn’t work is “Love Stoned/I Think She Knows (Interlude),” which is repetitive and kind of stupid. Set against frantic beats that only serve to drown out Timberlake’s uninspired lyrics (“She looks like a model/Except she’s got a lot more ass”), the song is about a sexy woman who likes to drink and then dance. I think the chorus might also be borrowed from “FutureSex/LoveSound.” It’s not exactly a great move to remind your audience of yourself in the same album, and to borrow the worst part of a song at that, but here we are. Clocking in at seven-and-a-half minutes, the song is way too long. I clipped my nails, and the song was still on. I did my laundry, and the song was still on. I vacuumed my room, and the song was still on. Well, you get the picture. The only thing I could figure out is that “love stoned” might be a euphemism for “I’m horny.” The track slows down near the end to make way for the “I Think She Knows (Interlude),” which veers into a pretty string arrangement to make the transition to the lazy opening guitar riffs for “What Goes Around…/…Comes Around.”
“Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk to You (Prelude),” on the other hand, has a very strong 1970s vibe and relies on synthesizers and drums to gain its momentum. It’s a very sexy song that becomes somewhat less sexy with all the synthesizer chords flying around, but winds up being a clever transition to “My Love.” Also, Timberlake addresses my earlier issue of his cockiness by announcing, “Now it might sound cocky/But is it really cocky if you know that it’s true?” I can’t argue there.
“FutureSex/LoveSound” starts off with an updated and funky version of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” and is a great opener that keeps the energy up for the rest of the album. This track also easily interlaces with “SexyBack,” making the first ten minutes of the album a non-stop thrill ride.
But what’ s not a thrill ride is “Damn Girl,” featuring Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am. What I don’t understand is why will.i.am insists on being in everyone’s album, very seldom adding much value. It’s Prince Redux in this minimally-named rhythm and blues track as Timberlake employs his falsetto voice to a fault, and somehow manages to rip on James Brown in addition to Prince by intermittently yelling, “Aww!” The title of the song is repeated about one thousand times throughout, officially making it more annoying than a Hilary Duff song. I don’t know where the love went, but the vocabulary on this song went right out the window. Similarly, “Until the End of Time,” a ballad reminiscent of Prince’s “Purple Rain” or “When Doves Cry” or possibly both, falls short of expectations. The sentiment in the song is very sweet, and the vocals are strong, but the track is as exciting as watching my boss decide what he wants to eat for lunch.
Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia guests on “Chop Me Up,” a decent hip-hop track where I can only surmise that “chop me up” is a euphemism for “blue balls.” This highly sexually-charged song veers into a disturbing version of an afterschool special when Timberlake sings, “Why don’t you take a sip up on this champagne/Relax, take your coat off, and let me get your name...Now I know you got a buzz off that alcohol/I got a house that can entertain y’all.” I don’t know where he’s going with this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had cameras set up in his room. Things get creepier when Timbaland chimes in with, “If you gotta problem, baby, I can hold you down.” And things become even weirder when a distorted voice screams, “Parental discretion is advised!” out of nowhere. Suddenly, we’re on the set of “Girls Gone Wild.”
For a moment I thought that Timberlake had also channeled Afroman’s “Because I Got High,” but luckily, “Losing My Way” doesn’t go that route. In this ballad, Timberlake is “Bob,” and he’s addicted to crack and can’t support his family. Perhaps he’s talking about his ex again? But seriously, “Losing My Way” is a social commentary that I can laud for effort but must pan for execution, especially when the end turns into a clichéd gospel number. The last track, “(Another Song) All Over Again,” rounds out the album. In this sweet piano-laden ballad, Timberlake oozes Brian McKnight out of his pores but pulls it off with strong and heartfelt vocals. When Timberlake asks for another chance in the relationship, I can actually buy it from him this time.
“Pose,” a bonus track featuring Snoop Dogg, is agreeable enough with fast bass-heavy beats, but is ultimately a silly filler song, much like “Senorita” was. The track only serves to enforce the notion that Snoop Dogg is a big old pervert, and that if Timberlake can infuse some chords from “Like I Love You” into a song, he will. And “SexyBack Remix” is not a remix at all, unless you count the new introduction by The Clipse.
FutureSex/LoveSounds is a fearless project that truly showcases the evolution of an artist. Although some tracks falter, the album as a whole is confident, sexy, and fresh. Timberlake isn’t apologetic about being influenced by others, and he continually uses this influence to refine and revolutionize his sound. And you shouldn’t be apologetic about loving every minute of it. ¤ C.Ho.
FUTURESEX/LOVESOUNDS:
(out of 5)