16 June 13-19, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | News | letters | coNteNts | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Justin Case Is the pop star past his prime? BY CELIA ALMEIDA T his year is shaping up to be a wildcard one in pop music. Earlier in 2024, the two big- gest music acts in the world, Be- yoncé and Taylor Swift, both dropped albums within three weeks of one another. Then, anticipated releases from main pop girls like Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa were well-received but barely made a splash; Normani announced she is finally put- ting out the damn album; and Justin Timber- lake, one of the most successful artists of the past two decades, dropped the worst-selling album of his storied solo career. Four years in the making, Everything I Thought It Was debuted back in March with an anemic 67,000 album-equivalent units sold, and while it still managed to make the top five on the Billboard 200 chart, the bloated 18-track album also failed to win over critics, who gave it middling reviews. As is the case for most albums that clock in over an hour — Everything’s runtime is one hour and 17 minutes, to be exact — the most immediate criticism about the record was that it could have used some additional editing. (To be fair, Timberlake claims he wrote about 100 songs for the album and cut it down from there.) It’s a criticism Swift also faced this year with The Tortured Poets Department, which also spanned more than an hour— and that was before she surprise-dropped 15 additional songs two hours after releasing the first batch. And, with Beyoncé’s 27-track Cowboy Carter running one minute longer than Tim- berlake’s album, today’s biggest musical acts appear to be artistically purging. The comparisons between these three very long records pretty much stop at album length, though. Cowboy Carter is yet another artistic peak from an artist who continues to outdo herself a quarter century into her ca- reer. Tortured Poets is the best-selling album of the year so far and, while uneven, contains plenty of moments of brilliance. Everything I Thought It Was doesn’t necessarily offer any- thing new from Timberlake, which he him- self admits. “I was playing it for people around me [and] they’re like, ‘Oh, this sounds like every- thing we know you for,’” he told Zane Lowe in an interview before the album was released. “And then another friend of mine was like, ‘This sounds like everything I thought I wanted from you.’” In retrospect, telling au- diences there was no need to listen to this one because they’d heard it all before was proba- bly not the wisest promotional move. It should be said that it is rare for an artist to maintain the public’s attention for as long as Timberlake has. He released his first single as a member of ‘NSync in 1996 — nearly 30 years and five presidents ago. He made his solo debut six years after that and was a criti- cal darling for the entirety of the decade that followed. His momentum only began to slow with 2013’s The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 and 2018’s Man of the Woods, and Everything’s in- ability to stop the backslide hints Timberlake may have entered a new stage in his career, one in which fans buy concert tickets to hear him play the hits and take bathroom breaks when he sings his new songs. Late last year, Timberlake seemed willing to indulge in that kind of nostalgic fan service for the first time since ‘NSync went on a per- manent “hiatus” in 2002. In September, the group released “Better Place,” its first song in more than 20 years, and teased further projects during a press tour that in- cluded an appear- ance on Hot Ones. Fans loudly ex- pressed their hopes for a full-fledged reunion tour, but Timberlake dashed those dreams when he announced his Forget Tomorrow World Tour in January. ‘NSync reunited again on “Paradise,” the penultimate track on Ev- erything I Thought It Was, which they de- buted during a surprise appearance at Timberlake’s concert in Los Angeles on the eve of the album’s release. It was a “break the internet” moment for sure, but for fans who expected an ‘NSync reunion tour, Timber- lake’s solo tour felt like a bait and switch. Though the adult-contemporary “Para- dise” is a far cry from the group’s signature earworm pop, the sweet midtempo track is a highlight on Everything I Thought It Was. And although most of the songs on the album do indeed sound like B-sides of Timberlake’s better albums — namely his first three, Justi- fied (2002), FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), and The 20/20 Experience (2013) — there are some genuinely great moments on it. Another standout, the multi-suite “Technicolor,” would have fit seamlessly on The 20/20 Expe- rience alongside “Spaceship Coupe.” “Flame” recalls the breezy groove on Justified’s “(Oh No) What You Got,” and “Drown” is the ideal showcase for Timberlake’s still-flawless fal- setto. Again, it’s mostly a rehash, but the ex- plosive guitars on the choruses of “Sanctified” point in a direction Timberlake hasn’t explored before. Yet it is true that, both musically and lyri- cally, Timberlake largely fails to say anything new on this album. The man is in his forties, he’s been married for more than a decade, and has two young children, but you wouldn’t know it from his latest collection of horny jams. Still, if you were buying what he was sell- ing on his classic albums, there’s likely some- thing for you on this one. And for what it’s worth, despite public and critical ambivalence toward his latest body of work, reviews for its supporting tour have been nothing short of glowing. To that end, he’s added four rounds of additional dates beyond the original tour an- nouncement. If you’re still unsure whether this album and concert are worth your time, Timberlake boomerangs back to South Florida for another show in Sunrise in November. Justin Timberlake. 8 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at Kaseya Center, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 786-777-1000; kaseyacenter.com. Tickets cost $55 to $275 via ticketmaster.com. 7:30 p.m. Fri- day, November 8, at Amerant Bank Arena, 1 Panther Pkwy., Sunrise; 954-835-7000; amer- antbankarena.com. Tickets cost $55 to $275 via seatgeek.com. [email protected] Justin Timberlake might be at the stage of his career where fans buy concert tickets to hear him play the hits. Photo by Charlotte Rutherford IT SHOULD BE SAID THAT IT IS RARE FOR AN ARTIST TO MAINTAIN THE PUBLIC’S ATTENTION FOR AS LONG AS TIMBERLAKE HAS. | CROSSFADE | t Music
