Daily Times

There comes a time in every man’s life where there’s a need for a change. It’s a special occurrence when the caesar transitions to a fade, the flannels and sherpa-lined trucker jackets give way to peacoats, silver chains, and Air Force 1s, and Chris Stapleton is replaced by Meek Mill, SZA, and Anderson .Paak.

Or, in Justin Timberlake‘s case, the time has come for a return to a change he made decades ago. In Timberlake’s latest reinvention, the city mouse who sequestered himself in the wilderness returns to the metaphorical metropolis to reclaim some magic. Across three songs, Meek Mill’s “Believe,” SZA’s “The Other Side,” and .Paak’s “Don’t Slack” ( the latter two are both from the upcoming Trolls World Tour soundtrack), Justin Timberlake has sonically and aesthetically backed away from the country-baiting tinges of 2018’s Man of the Woods back to the hip-hop bread and R&B butter (with a sprinkle of disco and funk) that built his decade-spanning career.

On “Believe,” he sings “You can break my body / But you can’t lock the soul of a man down” next to Mill with as much Caucasian soul as he can muster. In the video for “The Other Side,” Timberlake’s boy-band-honed dance moves are back, along with the falsetto that soundtracked many an early-aughts dancefloor. For “Don’t Slack” Timberlake told Genius he was looking for, “a sixties’ vibe with it to give it a little something vintage.” The new Timberlake looks very much like the old Timberlake. It just doesn’t sound quite as revolutionary this time around.