After leaving the most rewarding and promising boy band of the '90s—which truthfully isn't saying much—Justin Timberlake created a flawed debut album that nevertheless gifted us with four absolutely killer singles. More importantly, Justified established him as a legitimate musical force to be reckoned with. He took four years to give us a follow up, and while FutureSex/LoveSounds may not give us numerous blockbusters along the lines of ""Rock Your Body,"" it does show that Mr. JT is capable of moving forward.
The most striking thing about FS/LS is how restrained Justin's vocals are. Instead of beginning with an impassioned vocal showcase like ""SeAorita,"" as Justified did, FS/LS's first five tracks feature Justin employing a detached, 3 a.m.-style singing that makes you wonder if he's been listening to more Cabaret Voltaire than Michael Jackson lately.
Even the production here is downright minimalist compared to most other pop music—JT's voice sounds near the back of the mix during most songs, with the beat the most prominent attribute of each song, followed closely by each song's weird, synthetic hook. This style of production means the songs on FS/LS are hardly as memorable as those on Justified, but it does provide for a more unified listen and allows Justin to create an album that feels wholly his own.
""SexyBack"" is a brilliant song and a killer of a lead single, combining slow-moving but incessant dance beats and paranoid-sounding synths to create the most original sounding club single to hit the airwaves in some time—pretty much since the last Missy Elliot single. The vocals on ""SexyBack"" are another thing entirely. On past singles like ""Rock Your Body,"" ""Like I Love You"" and ""SeAorita""—all of which were essentially attempts to get the fairer sex into the sack—Justin took the Prince-like route of combining romantic flattery and macho assuredness to woo women, both lyrically and vocally.
With ""SexyBack,"" however, Justin is certainly after the same ends but comes across sounding utterly un-romantic. His vocals are so detached and matter-of-fact that one almost gets the impression he's tired of sex, or at least it's become something so routine and ever-present in his life he no longer feels the need to woo or impress anyone. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, and part of the song's undying appeal is its Human League-like approach to our deepest experiences.
The only other song that equals ""SexyBack"" is ""My Love,"" which is just plain mesmerizing. Combining Timberlake's trademark falsetto—which once again sounds fascinatingly detached—with washing synthesized hooks and a slow, pounding beat, this song is probably what it would sound like if zombies from the '80s had a prom. Though it doesn't have the potential to tear up the airwaves like ""Rock Your Body,"" ""My Love"" is by far the equal of his greatest pop songs.
The same can hardly be said for all of FS/LS. ""Chop Me Up,"" featuring Oscar-winners Three 6 Mafia, is a painfully run-of-the-mill attempt at club rap. ""Losing My Way"" and ""(Another Song) All Over Again"" are horribly trite pleas for love and self-discovery that repeat Justified's mistake of ending an album on boring, fluffy vocal showcases.
But most of FS/LS completely pleases. ""Damn Girl"" is a fantastically cheesy come-on song, a funk joint in the vein of Prince that is exactly what more of the songs on this record should be: fun. This song almost takes the kitsch so far as to be a self-parody, resembling Jimmy Fallon's ""Idiot Boyfriend"" (""I've got a microwave dinner with your name on it"") as much as Prince. This absurdity works in Timberlake's favor, though, and you're probably not human if you're not smiling after verses like ""Don't need no L'Oreal / ‘Cause bitch you're bad as hell / If I'm a Casanova / Then you're a supernova.""
With FS/LS, Justin may not have avoided the sophomore slump, but he's certainly proven he has what it takes to move his music and career forward in unexpected and interesting directions. If he maintains his willingness to experiment and comes back with a stronger set of songs, his next album could be a classic.
