The singer’s sixth album makes it clear that he has a lot to say and many different ways to say it but it jumps around too much tone wise to make it feel completely coherent.
The title ‘Everything I Thought it Was’ suggests that Justin Timberlake was going to go down a more self-reflective route and it certainly begins that way, with album opener ‘Memphis’ a bleak but still catchy song in which he reflects on where he has been during his career and whether it was worth it.
However, the rest of the songs on this 18 track album, sees the singer get back to his usual confidence and swagger – as heard on ‘F**king Up the Disco’ which does have similar vibes to ‘Rock Your Body’, with its disco funk vibes that gets the listener engaged right from the very start.
Of course, this is Justin Timberlake and a lot of the songs here are not subtle in the way they explore relationships and sex – just listen to ‘Infinity Sex’ for example. Yet, there is still enough on the album that offers plenty of confidence and keep the listener engaged, as well as proving to be strong songs that will still get people up on the dance floor, with tracks such as ‘My Favorite Drug’ and ‘Technicolor’ really standing out, with his vocals sounding particularly smooth on these two songs.
Yet the album as a whole feels as that Timberlake is in a battle with himself in terms of what he wants it to be. There are so many different tones to the songs that it can come across as not as coherent as a whole and feels as though he is trying to make two very different albums – just listen to the contrasts between ‘Selfish’ and ‘Play’ for example.
Perhaps the main problem is that 18 tracks is too long for any album – no matter how good the songs are. There is no doubting however that Justin Timberlake is still able to craft songs (with the help of some of his usual collaborators) that will get people on the dance floor – with songs such as ‘No Angels’ highlighting this.
Overall, yes there are plenty of songs to enjoy here and it feels that the singer still has that spark to create songs that people will certainly have on repeat – but it just needed a bit of tightening up to make it more coherent tone wise.
By Emma Clarendon
Everything I Thought it Was is available to buy now.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐