Los Angeles — Justin Timberlake's first album in six years, "Everything I Thought It Was," is a return to form in its best songs. His immediately recognized falsetto works when it relaxes into a futuristic funk. Others see it as mistimed nostalgia.
JT's career has ranged from Disney's “The Mickey Mouse Club” to fronting one of the most successful boy bands, NSYNC, to finding his own path and launching a successful solo career. The latter may be the most impressive—from 2002's “Justified” to 2006's “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” and an acting career (remember “The Social Network”) to 2013's “The 20/20 Experience” and “The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2.” I wish it had lasted.
In subsequent years, Timberlake's reputation declined. The 2018 album “Man of the Woods” featured “return to roots” symbolism (Timberlake is from Tennessee) and Americana, folk sounds, a contentious detour. In the early 2020s, the “Free Britney Spears” movement made Timberlake a villain, which was heightened by her 2023 biography “The Woman in Me.” She discusses her pregnancy, abortion, and heartbreaking breakup with Justin Timberlake in several pages.
Timberlake was condemned for his role in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, where a wardrobe malfunction exposed Janet Jackson's breast, crushing her career. He was invited back to perform in 2018 without the same impact.
To get Justin Timberlake to 2024, that background is essential. The 18-track “Everything I Thought It Was,” co-written and co-produced by Timberlake, Louis Bell, Cirkut, Kenyon Dixon, and Amy Allen, is an enjoyable, if often derivative, reminder of Timberlake at his best, from the slow-swag heartbreak track “Drown” to other elevated moments.
Like "No Angels," with its disco rhythms and unique vocal on “There ain't no angels here on the dance floor,” or the inverted gospel "Sanctified," with rapper Tobe Nwigwe and stadium-sized rock accompaniment. “Paradise” features all of NSYNC—if only they could reunite permanently.
The album's first single, “Selfish,” an R&B ballad, sounds like Nick Jonas' “Jealous” (which is odd because “Jealous” steals from JT's early work, and Jonas' solo career seems to have been designed to mirror Timberlake's successful break from his boy band). Meet tail, snake.
Only the opener “Memphis” addresses his old self and public image: “I pray for peace within myself/And no more regrets with it,” he sings. I saw my soul in the Mississippi/It reflected it." It appears that the rest of the record is about love and his marriage to Jessica Biel.
Before the release of “Everything I Thought It Was,” Timberlake revealed the album took four years and he wrote 100 songs. “Infinity Sex” and “F——- Up the Disco,” brassy, self-referential songs from JT's peak, show the work. His new songs are lovely but lack the power of his previous ones. Despite the nostalgia on “Everything I Thought It Was,” Timberlake's return to music is ill timed.
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