Man of the Woods

Definitely, during several years of my life, I was never a fan of the boy bands, that's why I was always away from the work of Justin Timberlake with *NSYNC until he decided to build a career as a soloist. At first, I was not so curious to know what I was doing, but by dint of finding it on TV shows, several collaborations with other singers and videos of their songs and concerts that appear everywhere, I started to get interested. It was a pleasant surprise to meet a singer who over the years and having his feet on the ground made him mature and dedicate himself to grow with his music and his very particular style to entertain. Unlike many who have left the groups that launched them to fame and that no matter how hard they try, they can not get a place in the public's taste or that for some reason they become very arrogant people (as is the case of Zayn ex 1D or One Direction, of which I have spoken in another Narrative) charisma, sympathy, and his concern to deliver quality things, have made Justin Timberlake one of the favorite artists of the United States and many other countries in the world. There have been many works that I have been able to know about him and when arriving at the most recent of his creations, Man of the Woods, he leaves me impressed for several reasons. Among other things, I am impressed by the generosity of the artist to put on an album so many songs and all of them with a considerable duration, it is noteworthy that in several of the songs on this album leaves ample space for what I suppose will be the moments in that will shine with his dance steps, same that go crazy to his fans during their concerts. As you read the title of the album, you can guess that it will be a collection of topics that will be collected from the most traditional catalog of American songs from the south, to what most identifies this country in terms of modern musical trends. And you're not wrong, Justin Timberlake stamps his album with a very American stamp and is proud of it. Curiously, for me the weakest song on the album and perhaps the most childish one, is precisely "Man of the Woods" but I think is because is part of the concept for what this album was designed, that is directed to a very specific audience, that he decided to include it and dedicate a video. Apart from that, the rest is outstanding. Like everything, the album has ups and downs in terms of the moods that are handled, but in general, their songs will make you vibrate with all that mix of styles and rhythms worthy of having them in different track lists to enjoy them at different times. Although I think the best way to enjoy it is to listen to it from beginning to end. Justin does not leave anything for later in this album: he gives us a master class of singing, dancing, feeling, different rhythms and currents and even gives a sample in his facet of being a father!

Sometimes, a major international artist makes a bold move by experimenting with the type of music he or she creates. However, this move may be seen as groundbreaking in one’s own native country, but may be seen as a very risky move in the overseas markets – where the artist also has a big fan base. I am talking about Justin Timberlake’s last album Man of the Woods and the artist’s foray into R&B and country-flavoured pop which may have hurt the album’s chances in gaining international popularity. Nothing unusual in Justin’s move to be bold about his musical direction as many other artists before him have, at different points in their careers, experimented with other musical styles – either integrating it into their own style or totally making a new canvas featuring it. However, to Justin’s older fans like me – who have been there since his *NSYNC days, I felt a bit alienated by the songs in Man of the Woods. I remember excitedly buying the album, a bit wary because of the ‘strange’ title – and my wariness became reality when I fully heard the album. To someone who has been used to Timberlake’s sleek pop-R&B-urban fusion in his last few albums, although part of this album still had that sound, the songs towards the end of the album was certainly new territory for me. Not that my mind is not open to new possibilities music-wise in Timberlake’s cannon – it was a bit unusual to hear the arrangement of his songs in a country way. Since there were so many other good releases that time, I remember just shelving his album and forgot about it, until now, when I had to give it a listen again, since I wanted to make a narrative about it. Chart-wise though, the album can still be considered a success, reaching #1 in the US, and producing two top ten hits in the US charts. Sales-wise, it was the eighth best-selling album of 2018 but sales have stopped at around the 700,00 mark in the US, and around the 400,000 mark worldwide, a small number compared to the millions he is used to selling worldwide. Anyway, this musical maneuvering that Timberlake did in Man of the Woods may have put me off of him this time around, but I am still excited to hear what his next album would sound like.