Justin Timberlake Drops First Hints of Earthy, Memphis-Inspired Album ‘Man of the Woods’
After over two years of rumor and anticipation, Justin Timberlake has finally dropped the first solid information about his upcoming new album, along with substantial hints at the sonic direction it might take. This is all amid an environment where many hints and rumors have been swirling since late 2015 which have some or most of Justin Timberlake’s new music being heavily inspired by country and roots, along Timberlake’s upbringing in Memphis.
One thing we know for sure now, Memphis will factor in heavily to the new music. In a minute-long teaser released on Monday (1-2), Timberlake says, “This album is really inspired by my son, my wife, my family. But more so than any other album I’ve ever written, where I’m from. And it’s personal.”
The new album is called Man of the Woods, and will be released on February 2nd. A new song will also emerge on January 5th, likely called “Fresh Leaves.” Justin Timberlake’s son is named Silas, which translates from Latin to “of the forest”—similar to the name of the new album.
“It feels like mountain, trees, campfires, like Wild West, but now,” a female voice says, possibly of Timberlake’s wife, actress Jessical Biel, who also makes a brief appearance in the video. Of course Memphis doesn’t really have any mountains, and certainly isn’t the “Wild West.”
“It feels so earthy,” producer Pharrell can also be heard saying. “It’s just where you are in your life right now.”
Amid images of Justin Timberlake kneeling in snowy fields, wading in a river very indicative of a Southern baptismal, walking through a corn field, a shot of stallions running across the range, and a large bonfire, snippets of music play that certainly have very earthy, rootsy tones. This includes low hums, the jangle of a guitar with fiddles in the background, but then morphing into electronic drum beats and urban annunciations more indicative of Timberlake’s contemporary efforts.
So though Timberlake stokes the imagination that Man of the Woods could have some country and roots textures on it, the ultimate judgement remains inconclusive, and likely will stay that way until February 2nd. It’s pretty safe to assume his first single won’t be a hard country shit kicker, but don’t be surprised if the “earthy” influences are intermixed with more radio-friendly tones. Chris Stapleton, who is a good friend of Timberlake’s and performed with him during a now landmark 2015 appearance at the CMA Awards, is also rumored to make an appearance on the album. This information is said to be confirmed in a Rolling Stone feature on the new album emerging in the coming days.
One thing is for sure, Justin Timberlake has everyone paying attention, which is the point any artist wants to get the public to before releasing a highly-anticipated album such as Man of the Woods.
January 2, 2018 @ 10:49 am
I’ll take a country inspired pop album over a pop inspired country album any day.
January 3, 2018 @ 8:15 am
Well said…
January 2, 2018 @ 11:14 am
Like an advert for an Apple product. How earthy.
January 2, 2018 @ 11:31 am
It’s going to be the same deal as a bunch of the modern pop albums that have been released lately. Pop songs with a few Americanna influenced tracks as well. Taylor had the acoustic NYE, Gaga had several tracks that were definitely jazz/roots inspired, Beyonce had country leaning track, etc.
January 2, 2018 @ 11:38 am
Parts of the video look like a metrosexual remake of the movie The Revenant.
January 2, 2018 @ 9:43 pm
That is a freaking hilarious comment and it is right on the mark! Hahahahaha!!!
January 2, 2018 @ 11:50 pm
I was hoping he’d climb into a dead horse to stave off hypothermia at some point, but then again getting dirty isn’t something metrosexuals are much interested in.
January 4, 2018 @ 6:03 am
I don’t know. The first single being released tomorrow is called “Filthy” so maybe he’s ready to roll in the mud.
January 2, 2018 @ 12:04 pm
Who wants to put their monies on Taylor Swift 2.0 here? I already have have all the money under my mattress in… who’s with me?
January 2, 2018 @ 12:28 pm
Sorry if I can’t get excited about this.
I respect flexible artists like JT, but I don’t welcome their attempted entries to the country arena.
They are entertainers, but not country.
I like both types of artists, but i don’t buy the notion of cross-pollination of genres.
I grew up in Memphis and still spend a good bit of time there, and “of the forest” and “man of the woods” aren’t notions which come to mind when i think of Memphis.
JT actually grew up north of Memphis near Shelby Forest, where some greenery exists.
But Memphis itself is mostly pavement, crime, basketball and barbecue.
January 2, 2018 @ 8:05 pm
I grew up there too – actually in the woods, but 30 minutes east in Eads. Your last sentence was spot-on.
January 3, 2018 @ 1:40 pm
We live in Collierville and Marshall County, Ms on a part time basis.
We would have been happy to let JT use our farm for his video.
He may have had to deal with serpents, coyotes and bobcats to do so.
But we would let him get some photos with our cattle and donkeys.
January 3, 2018 @ 6:22 pm
Lived in Collierville for my first ten years. It’s mostly suburb now, but farther east it’s beautiful land. Sounds like a solid setup you got there, nice work!
January 3, 2018 @ 9:47 am
I grew up in Lucy Tn about 10 minutes from where JT grew up. When I think of Memphis I think of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
January 4, 2018 @ 6:35 am
I grew up in Forrest City, Arkansas (45 minutes from Memphis), so I think of General Nathan Bedford Forrest too, haha. I also think of tons of crime and it being a crappy place to grow up, but they did have this great barbecue place called BJ’s, lol.
January 2, 2018 @ 12:31 pm
Well that’s disappointing. Looks like the same old stuff.
January 2, 2018 @ 12:45 pm
Like every Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi, the prerelease hype will lead to massive profits followed by consumer dissatisfaction.
January 2, 2018 @ 1:42 pm
That video is so just over the top and seems so un-real
January 2, 2018 @ 2:04 pm
That video is beautifully shot and art directed … but it says nothing of the actual music. Like you say, it’s a wait and see. I like JT. He’s written some beautifully crafted pop music and I’ve always had a soft spot for him knowing he’s from Memphis. I’m actually pretty curious about this release. I’ll be listening!
January 2, 2018 @ 2:29 pm
Jesus …I never thought of JT as a “Man of the Woods ” until I saw that video but damn …he really is .
He even has a beard , swims in water and plays in mountain snow . Pictures don’t lie . I ‘ve been wrong all along about JT, obviously , and now I’m feeling a bit ….well ….foolish . I wonder if he eats venison . That would be sooooo cool if he did . Or hey …..do you think he goes fishing ? This record MUST be good if he goes fishing cuz Luke Bryan goes fishing and hunting and stuff and look at HIS record..
Damn …I’m getting pretty excited about this record .
Gotta go watch the video again ……and start growing my beard ….
January 2, 2018 @ 2:52 pm
hey …..is that PHARELL in there …?
holy N.E.R.D , Batman . What if Pharell is a man of the woods too ?
this year is starting off to be AMAZING !!! ………two days in and already TWO men of the Woods who I never would have guessed were Men of the Woods .I would have thought Pharell was , maybe , a Man Of The Meadows ….or the gardens….. but hell ….I was wrong about JT so ….?
January 2, 2018 @ 3:04 pm
Excerpt from WASHINGTON POST
Do Jodie’s concerns sound familiar to fans of COUNTRY music ?
The Washington Post
Jodie Foster compares superhero movies to fracking (and she’s not a fan of either)
By Emily Heil January 2 at 12:39 PM
Metaphor alert! Actress-director-producer Jodie Foster didn’t have to dig too deep to come up with a boogeyman with which to compare superhero movies, which she thinks are a destructive force. In a recent interview, the “Silence of the Lambs” star likened the over-the-top film genre to another no-go for intellectual Hollywood types.
“Studios making bad content in order to appeal to the masses and shareholders is like fracking,” she said told the British Radio Times magazine (per the Daily Mail). “You get the best return right now but you wreck the earth.”
Both forces are on the march, though, with plenty of capes-and-superpower flicks set for release this year and with the Trump administration rolling back regulations on hydraulic fracking, during which water is blasted to peel away enormous chunks of rock layers to get to the oil or natural gas within (enviros, natch, aren’t fans).
And Foster imagines the scourge of superhero movies spreading internationally. “It’s ruining the viewing habits of the American population and then ultimately the rest of the world,” she said.
Her words drew plenty of criticism, mostly from superhero movie fans
January 2, 2018 @ 7:48 pm
Well, well, well, lookie, lookie here, now. The cats dragged in something delightful this time haven’t they? You’re not so bad yourselves, thank you very much. Arkangel, arkangel, tell my Foster friend to get up off the floor, now wouldya, pretty please? Say that there is a warm blooded person on this planet, no matter how much cocaine they snorted or what might’ve happen that would cause them to smash an i.P.ad in their mother’s face. And all that wood on the ceiling and walls, pressing your nose up against our window panes again? What’s up with the addiction to toys, like everyone is so desperate for toys in the end, they can’t live without them. Twiddle your fingers around your lips, dab off the saliva forming in the corners. Life’s about to get good me… thinks as JT brings sexy to the back woods for the boys in their drum circles hugging trees. Yes there is good and bad it does exist. If you think otherwise…..well….you’re…… insane…
January 3, 2018 @ 5:41 am
Holy VOCs Batman! JT is releasing something into the environment that is causing seismic shifts in the earth’s crust!!
January 2, 2018 @ 3:14 pm
Just can’t find myself getting excited over this. It already feels forced just from this creative little video. And Pharrel’s involvement lends as much credence to me as Bob Dylan’s would on the next Kendrick Lamar release.
After the past year when artists like Cody Jinks, Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton (among others) started gaining, or continuing to build on their, slight mainstream momentum, I feel that this album will only thwart any major attention they may be primed for.
Sorry, but I just cant find the authenticity in such a project. Instead, I’ll continue filling out my calendar with the new releases you posted in the “rumor” article yesterday.
January 2, 2018 @ 3:28 pm
Didn’t watch the video yet but my first thought reading the headline was “Oh for fucks sake…..”
January 2, 2018 @ 4:06 pm
Remember the time Robert Redford made “Jeremiah Johnson” and became an honest to God mountain man. And who could forget that Kevin Costner became an authentic Souix brave after staring in “Dances with Wolves”. Now tell me honestly, after watching this video, who can doubt that Justin is a “Man of the Woods”? Can’t wait to spend $150 plus, to stand in an arena with 18000 teens and watch Timberlake preform with a dance troupe. Choreographed dancing and an awesome light show somehow says deep country roots to me. Or….. I could just pay a $15 or $20 cover to one of a couple of venues five miles from my house to see a night of great country or roots music by some name artists. What to do, what to do?
January 2, 2018 @ 4:56 pm
Yawn…..once again, nothing to see here folks. Another pop album from a pop star. Nothing wrong with that, mind you. Just some good ol mindless generic pop. Did you really imagine you were gonna get a true country western , grits and gravy record with weeping steel guitar, 3/4 waltz fiddle, telecaster twang and JT re-invented with a manly country baritone ala George Jones? Really? Realllly??? Dream on…
January 2, 2018 @ 5:20 pm
The only country thing I would like to see Justin do would be to play Keith Whitley in a movie.
January 5, 2018 @ 12:17 am
Fuck Off!
January 5, 2018 @ 9:43 am
Well okay than then. Thank you and have a great day.
January 2, 2018 @ 6:30 pm
I don’t know. There’s probably at least a thousand things in the world that would excite me more than the release of a Justin Timberlake album. I didn’t think his duet with Chris Stapleton deserved nearly the exposure it received. Just my opinion though. Justin Timberlake just isn’t on my radar.
January 2, 2018 @ 8:13 pm
I agree about the duet with Chris. Just didn’t get all the hype about it. I don’t like everything JT does (and I do like pop and pop country music) so I don’t know about this album . Or if it works for him. Guess we shall see.
January 2, 2018 @ 7:19 pm
As people are having a circle jerk over Timberlake’s next big career move, I just heard something that is a real downer. Rick Hall, the owner of Fame studios, and the man called the father of Muscle Shoals Music has died at age 85. This is a man who is worth talking about, and reflecting on his place in the history of important A’erican Music.
January 2, 2018 @ 9:56 pm
I don’t really know anything about Timberlake’s music and couldn’t name or recognize a song. Seems like a nice enough guy. I’ve seen him act a couple times; he was in that Cohen Brothers film about a fictitious Greenwich Village folk singer called Llewelyn Davis or something. Did a decent job. If the music in that video is any indication of how his “roots” (and I use that term in total sarcasm) will sound, however, well then it is perfect for “country” radio because it is pure electronic pop. Doesn’t resemble anything roots or country at all. Well done iPhone video shoot, though, as pointed out in earlier comments. Very Revenant.
January 2, 2018 @ 11:16 pm
I cant understand WHY there is so much attention about this. He is a pop singer yet the idea that he may do a country or roots album is being hailed as some sort of hope or savior to country.
I dont get it.
January 3, 2018 @ 12:18 pm
I haven’t seen anyone say that Justin Timberlake will be a “savior to country.” Since he is one of the biggest stars out there at the moment, if he releases music that is meant for country audiences, it could have massive reverberations in the industry, and so it’s worth talking about. A lot of folks are assuming that coverage = praise. I personally have no idea what to expect from the new record. It may not be country at all. We’ll just have to see. All indications are the lead single won’t be country whatsoever.
January 3, 2018 @ 1:01 am
So?
Let us know Whitey Morgan releases a new album
January 3, 2018 @ 3:05 am
costume design by Midland
January 3, 2018 @ 3:20 am
give the guy a break , he is getting the worst hate/mocking campaign of his career and no one give him credit for anything , it seems its just the trend of the moment
and no one has even heard a thing yet
January 3, 2018 @ 8:20 am
Wow, more costume changes then Cher!
January 3, 2018 @ 8:58 am
Is the background music representative of the actual music on the album? If so, there’s nothing “earthy” about it; it’s just more of the same. Not that there’s anything wrong with more of the same for those that enjoy more of the same, but for those of us expecting a little bit more than that, it feels slightly disappointing.
January 3, 2018 @ 9:51 am
You assholes wanted more women in Country Music!
January 3, 2018 @ 1:38 pm
Now that’s funny.
I almost spit out my diet Coke when I read this.
January 4, 2018 @ 5:37 pm
It gets funnier every time I say it.
January 4, 2018 @ 6:09 am
If anyone in the pop world can do this right, it’s JT. He’s always been a fan of country music and I think he’s coming from a genuine place here. This isn’t some pop icon jumping on a bandwagon. I’d be willing to bet that any song on this album with a hint of country on it will be more country than what is played on country radio these days.
January 4, 2018 @ 12:42 pm
Watched the little video up there. Perfect example of the deterioration of all popular culture.
Explaining his supposed inspiration for the album, while the visuals prove he’s a liar…
The Pharrell endorsement, as if people need someone like Pharrell to tell them what’s authentic…
Please, everyone – turn your brains to the ON position!
January 5, 2018 @ 7:29 am
Wait until you listen to and watch the video of the first release “Filthy”. I can tell you after being a music lover since the early 60’s, I now have no grasp on music in general, and none on country music in particular. I guess i’ll go outside today and yell at clouds.
January 5, 2018 @ 7:33 am
First music video has dropped; “It’s so earthy!” Yeah, so what exactly is “earthy” about a 40-something dad pretending to be a hip Steve Jobs watching a provocative robot while sub-par EDM blares over the barely-intelligible lyrics? You got your clicks and buzz, Justin, congrats!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA-NDZb29I4
January 5, 2018 @ 8:11 am
Can’t wait to ignore and not purchase and if lucky, not even hear.