Entertainment

Timberlake Drops A Huge Clue About His New Album

by Emily Lackey

Hang on to your music-loving ears, Justin Timberlake fans, because his new album might have something completely different in store. In a recent interview, Timberlake had a lot to say about his upcoming album and his recent collaboration with Pharrell. While it’s clear that his most recent music sounds a lot different than what he was producing with Timbaland (take a listen to “Can’t Stop” if you’re looking for an example), there might be something else that’s different too. When talking with Variety, Timberlake dropped a major hint about his new music, and this may mean that a video album is coming.

In the interview, Timberlake opened up about the album, talking about how it is so much different from the work in his past. “If 20/20 sounded like it literally surrounds your entire head,” he said, “this stuff feels more like it just punches you between the eyes.”

Ummm, did you see that, reader? This new album — and the music on it — is going to "punch us between the eyes."

I don’t know about you, but I read that and immediately thought that Timberlake is dropping some major code here about what his new album is going to be like. Like, oh gee, could that mean that his new album has something to do with our eyes? Could it mean that it's going to have a visual component to it as well?

Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

I’m hoping the answer is yes, so let’s consider his work in the past. When you take into account how much Timberlake tends to be on the cutting edge of music, incorporating different mediums into his productions, a visual album could definitely be on the horizon. For instance, in his 2006 album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, Timberlake included an interactive booklet for fans that bought the album on iTunes. The 20/20 Experience was released a little differently too. The album was released in two parts that fans could either buy separately or as a complete set.

So it wouldn’t exactly be surprising if Timberlake did things a little differently this time around. Especially since so many artists are releasing video albums to accompany their auditory ones. After the huge success of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, I wouldn’t be surprised if all artists started doing something similar. And if that means more Timberlake to ogle and admire, that's even better.