LAURA JOHNSON
A&E Assistant
Somewhere back in early January, Justin Timberlake decided to grow up. He felt it was his duty to bring “sexy back” to the world. Because, in his words, there was nothing good being played on the radio. Acting in the only way he knew how, he went back into the studio.
Though taking a two-year sabbatical from album making to pursue an acting career, his album “Futuresex/LoveSounds” is his answer to making music good again.
A far cry from his peroxide-induced N’Sync years, this Parental Advisory sticker slapped album is sure to please his now college-aged fans. Though 12-year-olds everywhere will still flock to the record store for their piece of Timberlake, the album was not made for teeny boppers — JT had a more mature audience in mind.
Inventing new words to name his tunes, Timberlake implemented his creative license for songs like “SexyBack,” “LoveStoned” and the title track “FutureSex/LoveSounds.” With all the preludes and interludes and slashes within one song title, the CD may seem extremely confusing. And while the choppiness of the songs may need explanation, Timberlake makes it work. Within each track are different bits and pieces of songs squashed into one, making the use of twice-titled songs reasonable.
The single “SexyBack” became the biggest hit on the airwaves this summer as it was played on heavy rotation by almost every radio station around the world. It has no other purpose than to make one want to dance. The beat is so captivating that one might forget that the same seven or eight lines are being repeated over and over again. Described as “hip hop on crack” by Timberlake, the fact that his voice is so distorted and barely recognizable excites him. Singing into a guitar amplifier, Timberlake was able to achieve a sound unlike any other.
Most of the tracks on the disc have a similar story line: Boy sees girl at club, girl may be under the influence of something or about to be, boy wants to dance with girl and wishes girl was wearing less clothing, boy hopes it may lead to something more. Suddenly, the reason for the parental guidance sticker becomes obvious.
A few of the songs, however, do stray from this formula story line. The lyrics in track 4 “Let Me Talk to You/My Love” seems to show that Timberlake is interested in more then a mere one-night stand.
“I can see us holding hands,” Timberlake sings in a growling falsetto. “Walks on the beach, our toes in the sand. Let me look at my lady, girl you amaze me. Ain’t gotta do nothing crazy, see all I want you to do is be my love.”
And again on the song “What Goes Around/ … Comes Around Interlude”, a song with an almost Beatles Revolver album-like sitar inspired intro, he switches up the content by talking about a bad break-up. Could this be Timberlake’s tender heart still pinning for Britney? Was “Cry Me a River” not enough?
Lyrics like “The funny thing is I was ready to give you my name. Thought it was me and you baby and now it’s all just a shame” show he may not be over the relationship. When Spears does get around to making her next album, a retaliation song is in order.
Peppered with synthesizer, orchestra, opera singers, background gospel choirs and a sound that harkens back to the 80s, Timberlake arguably used almost every sound imaginable to back his CD. His title track “FutureSex/LoveSounds” even has a beat reminiscent of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” The lyrics to this song are unmentionable, but with Timberlake’s soothing electronic crooning, it is rather hard to not want to do what he is asking.
Gnarls Barkley already took music to a whole new level this year, yet Timberlake’s effort, as one of the most anticipated albums of the year, will not go unnoticed. His album will be played ravenously at every club. Though, this does not make it the most brilliant work ever pressed to CD — lyrics like “Don’t need no Maybelline because you’re a beauty queen” come to mind here — the disc should have been better, but it leaves his debut album “Justified” drowned in a river somewhere, proving him more than a pop star.
Are his lyrics going to spark a revolution? A Bob Dylan for this generation he may not be, but JT never set out to change the world, merely the song caliber on the radio, and this he has achieved.
09-21-2006
