A lot happened in the six years between Justin Timberlake’s last studio album, 2018’s Man of the Woods, and Everything I Thought It Was. After a world-changing pandemic, the pop star appeared in films, hopped on numerous collaborations (Jung Kook, Coco Jones, and Jack Harlow among them), and reunited at long last with his fellow *NSYNC members for the Trolls Band Together soundtrack. With Everything I Thought It Was, Timberlake is back to creating for himself. “I think there are moments that are incredibly honest,” he tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “But also, there’s a lot of fucking fun on this album.” As Man of the Woods was a tribute to Timberlake’s family and Tennessee roots, Everything I Thought It Was is a homecoming in its own way. Opening track “Memphis” is a pensive reflection on his hometown and the pressures of doing it proud: “You’re the one that’s chosen to make it out/Gotta seize the moment, don’t let us down.” He revisits his boy-band days with yet another new *NSYNC team-up, “Paradise,” whose simple guitar melodies highlight the quintet’s harmonies in all their timeless splendor. With help from producers including Calvin Harris and longtime collaborators Timbaland and Danja, Everything I Thought It Was is Timberlake’s return to peak pop-R&B form and a credible sequel to his club-influenced 2006 LP FutureSex/LoveSounds. Beyond the breakup ballads (“Drown”) and syrupy seductions (“Play”), the album glides across the dance floor with hip-grinding electro-R&B (“What Lovers Do”), Afrobeats (“Liar” featuring Fireboy DML), and sweat-slicked disco grooves, occasionally throwing curveballs with beat switches (“My Favorite Drug”) and delivering a modern-day “Rock Your Body” in “F****n’ Up the Disco.” “I think that’s where I came up with the album title,” Timberlake says. “I was playing it for people around me. They’re like, ‘Oh, this sounds like everything we know you for.’ And then another friend of mine was like, ‘Oh, this sounds like everything I thought I wanted from you.’ It was like that sort of phrase, in one way or another, was in the air.”
March 14, 2024 18 Songs, 1 hour, 17 minutes ℗ 2024 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment