Album: The 20/20 Experience
Artist: Justin Timberlake
(RCA)
Three stars out of five
Another week, another musical comeback.
Justin Timberlake is the latest to make an attempt — and the most marketed, what with appearances on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and South by Southwest, to promote his first album in seven years, The 20/20 Experience.
“Talk about overexposed,” groused entertainment lawyer and infamous crank Bob Lefsetz in one of his daily email dispatches.
David Bowie, by comparison, released two videos to publicize his first album in a decade, The Next Day, while The Grapes of Wrath simply relied on social media and CBC to spread the word about their first in 22 years, High Road.
Bigger, as we all know, isn’t always better. In fact, when it comes to Hollywood’s marketing machine, bigger usually acts as camouflage — to get as many fans excited to buy into a movie/album/product before its flaws are revealed.
“You and me, that’s a recipe for a good time,” JT croons on Strawberry Bubblegum, one of 10 songs on The 20/20 Experience. How could there possibly be any flaws in that recipe?
There wouldn’t be — if there weren’t so many extra ingredients. You and the former Mouseketeer aren’t really alone — what he fails to mention is the presence of his producer/MC, Timbaland, and a bunch of goofy effects on The 20/20 Experience’s supposedly sexier jams.
“Dance!” Timberlake instructs on Don’t Hold the Wall, a hip-swaying, Middle-Eastern-flavoured number watered down by cartoonish backup vocals.
“Yeah, give it to me,” a deep, Barry White-ish robo voice ruins the vibe on Strawberry Bubblegum, a summery R&B tune which snaps and pops with sexual innuendo.
Too much innuendo, to be honest. There’s a fine line between just enough and overbearing — you’d think Timberlake would understand this. Or maybe not. He’s not exactly the suavest of lovers. His lyrics are often silly, cheesy or painfully outdated. “Everybody’s looking for the flyest thing to say / But I just want to fly away with you,” he warbles on Spaceship Coupe, a bass-heavy rumbler with plinking pianos and fluttery flutes.
These words might be one of the reasons why women and men love JT. His attempts at seduction, as smooth as they might feel, are still awkward — making us laugh, making us feel we don’t have to Mr. Perfect Hollywood Actor/Singer to seduce someone.
The 20/20 Experience is far from perfect, largely because the sonics are so smooth, they feel flat — from the lacklustre single, Suit & Tie, to the sanitary Afro-Cuban vibe of Let The Groove Get In. There are a few moments of greatness, but these usually come five minutes into some of Timberlake’s longer songs, such as Pusher Love Girl or Don’t Hold the Wall, when they turn into dance remixes of themselves.
(Then again, his last album — 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds — isn’t quite the masterpiece we want to remember it as. Especially the two ballads at the end of the album, Losing My Way and All Over Again.)
We can only hope his next 10 songs for The 20/20 Experience — due in November, according to Questlove of Fallon’s house band, The Roots — are better than the first 10.
– Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal
