After only two albums in the past ten years Justin Timberlake is back with The 20/20 Experience. In that time he’s been busy creating his own brand of Tequilla, starring in movies, such as David Fincher’s brilliant ‘The Social Network.’ oh, and buying most of MySpace too.
So is ’20/20′ any good? Well it’s classy, there’s no doubt about that. It’s probably what’s to be expected from a 32 year old high roller rarely seen in anything but a ‘Suit & Tie’ these days. A look he wears so well he wrote a song about it, accompanied with a video directed by the aforementioned David Fincher.
Longtime collaborator Timbaland is once again at the forefront of the album’s production and it’s a slightly self-indulgent experience. Second single ‘Mirrors’ clocks in at over eight minutes but that’s perfectly fine when you’re Justin Timberlake.
Long tracks are the norm for Justin and a handful of tracks on his last album were well over the five minute mark (‘What Goes Around… & ‘LoveStoned’ to name just two). This also means that when you are sat there thinking ‘I don’t want this track to be over’, it isn’t. More Justin for everyone.
What about Justin? Well he sounds like silk, of course he does. ‘That Girl’ is perhaps the prime example of his silkiness, so much so I found myself being a bit jealous I wasn’t Jessica Biel for four minutes and 47 seconds. Speaking of class & silk ‘Let The Groove Get In’ is the quintessential pop song even more so than ‘That Girl’ is, and with Timbaland at the helm it’s not an album made to listen to while sat still.
In terms of sleekness, it’s the Joseph Gordon-Levitt of albums. Cool, sassy and may well be good friends with your Mum & Dad.