Two weeks into 2013, Twitter exploded. Nearly every day,
timelines were just full of excited tweets, all of which entirely in capital
letters with at least 4 exclamation points following it. This would become ‘The
Week That Shook Pop’. Destiny’s Child announced a new album, David Bowie
released a new single and Justin Timberlake announced he’d be releasing
“something”. But once the dust had settled, it was all a bit of a fool’s
paradise. The Destiny’s Child album was merely a compilation of love songs, with
one new song, David Bowie’s ‘Where Are We Now?’ wasn’t particularly spectacular
and Timberlake’s announcement was that a song would be coming out the week
after. ‘The Week That Shook Pop’ suddenly became ‘The Week That Made Everyone
on Twitter Sad’. As with Bowie’s return, Timberlake’s was anticipated with
bated breath, to say the least.
Yet, unlike Bowie, Timberlake hasn’t exactly been quiet in
the 7 years since the absolute disco stomper Futuresex/Lovesounds. He’s been in
award winning, critically acclaimed films (Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network)
and not so critically acclaimed films (doing the voice of Boo-Boo in Yogi Bear),
done a song with Madonna, hosted Saturday Night Live 3 times (adding to his
total, making him one of the few people to host 5+ times) and even got married.
Still, his return to music was unexpected.
The 20/20 Experience brings back long-time collaborator
Timbaland, the mastermind behind Futuresex/Lovesounds’s production, to create
an album with an altogether much different feel. The 20/20 Experience feels
like the relaxing VIP lounge to Futuresex/Lovesounds’s heaving club with
alcohol flowing. Opening with swirling cinematic strings, ‘Pusher Love Girl’
feels like a classic soul track brought into the 21st century. Equally, ‘That Girl’, with its smooth brass
section and Timberlake’s crooning voice alongside doo-wop backing vocals,
wouldn’t feel out of place on a Motown compilation. Slightly cringey
‘Strawberry Bubblegum’ also follows this pattern but is made a bit unnerving by
the fact Timberlake is singing about his wife’s vagina for the full 8 minute
running time.
On the subject of song running times, none of them are short
which, in some cases, is slightly detrimental to the songs. Timberlake is no
stranger to long songs – LoveStoned and What Goes Around Comes Around hit
around the 7:30 mark – but The 20/20 Experience only has one song below 5
minutes. Some of the longer songs feel like they overstay their welcome, with
what seems like a jam session shoved on the end; ‘Let The Groove Get In’, an
otherwise fantastic slice of tropical pop goodness, is let down slightly by the
unnecessary outro which takes up half of the song. ‘Mirrors’ is the only song
that feels like it deserves its 8 minute running time, a perfectly crafted pop
song that works as an antithesis to ‘Cry Me A River’ in its pure joy at finally
finding love, alluding to his relationship with wife Jessica Biel.
With some tighter editing to get some songs down to the pure
pop goodness that are hidden away in the background of almost every song
instead of Led Zepplin-esque “epics”, The 20/20 Experience could be a worthy
competitor to Futuresex/Lovesounds but, as it stands, it’s a welcome albeit
marginally disappointing return for ‘N Sync’s greatest export.
3 ½ / 5
Recommended download: Mirrors
