Just days after Justin Timberlake announced his new album, Man of the Woods, the lead single, "Filthy," is out. From Justin's announcement and album artwork on his Instagram, I was expecting some Bon Iver (For Emma, Forever Ago era) or Bob Dylan during his religious years kind of vibe from the pop stars new project. Sadly "Filthy" does not indicate that Timberlake is going in any of these directions. Instead "Filthy" brings an enticing, rough electronic beat that contrast heavily with the glitz and glam of his previous two albums. Somehow Timberlake is able to take this maniacally attractive beat and surround it with lyrics and other instrumentation that makes it marketable and sexy. For this fact, I am impressed but the lyrics do seem to pander to existing pop standards that are less than desirable and will probably lead to the song getting old pretty fast. Timberlake seems aware of these weird pop tropes as he sings "No this ain't the clean version." Despite this, the interesting beat alone makes me love this song.

The music video is another beast. Timberlake channels Steve Jobs as he shadow dances with a robot. It is almost like an episode from Black Mirror is unfolding before us as the robot becomes a sex symbol and Timberlake seemingly disappears in the end.  The music video truly elevates the song as it the lyrics is slightly enhanced (and it is just a great video). I am still holding out hope for folk-pop Justin Timberlake album but if this is what we get I'll live.

Happy Jamming!

Listen to the Song on Spotify:

Listen to the Song on Apple Music: