Well here’s a belated holiday gift for ‘ya: Justin Timberlake, (otherwise known as Jacques Grande from The Love Guru), has announced that his fourth studio album, Man of the Woods, will be dropping February 2 on RCA Records.
The album’s first single, “Filthy,” was released this past Friday (January 5) in the form of a thematically esoteric music video from director Mark Romanek, who you may or may not be familiar with based on his award-winning work with underground artists like Jay-Z, Madonna, Taylor Swift, and Coldplay. Twelve years on, it’s pretty clear that JT is (still) bringing Sexyback to the carnally-charged masses, even if he’s now doing it with debonair, rug-cutting cyborgs from the futuristic dystopia of I, Robot.
Also, in terms of a personal workload, it appears that Justin will be adopting a no-bullshit style approach to 2018; in addition to headlining the Pepsi Super Bowl halftime show on February 4, he’s announced he’ll be releasing a new song (as well as an accompanying video) each week leading up to the official album drop. Now everyone knows Justin’s a god amongst men, but how’s that for ringing in the New Year with a bang?
In terms of the record, experts in the field are calling it his most “ambitious to date” (how many fucking times have you heard that one?) and claiming that it will blend the sounds of such contemporary acts as Chris Stapleton, Timbaland, and Alicia Keys. (Call me a cynic, but I’ll be super interested to hear how one might amalgamate the stylistic tendencies of a Chris Stapleton with the hip, “urban” penchants of someone like Timbaland. If it’s anything short of revelatory, I’m going to be disappointed.)
And lastly, RCA has announced that a rare, super exclusive version of the album (with different cover art, posters, digital download codes, all that jazz) will be available ONLY in the U.S. at a tiny, indie record shop called Target, which to date has just 1,828 locations nationwide.
If you’re worried about missing out on this ultra limited release (that’s a joke, kids), you can ease your anxieties by pre-ordering Man of the Woods right here and watching the album’s trailer down below. Also, in addition to getting your rocks off with “Filthy” (which you’ll also find posted down below), be sure to keep an eye out for all those forthcoming new songs and videos, which will start dropping weekly on January 18.
Man of the Woods tracklisting:
01. Filthy
02. Midnight Summer Jam
03. Sauce
04. Man of the Woods
05. Higher, Higher
06. Wave
07. Supplies
08. Morning Light (featuring A.K.)
09. Say Something (featuring C.S.)
10. Hers (interlude)
11. Flannel
12. Montana
13. Breeze off the Pond
14. Livin’ off the Land
15. The Hard Stuff
16. Young Man