He’s bringing sensitive back.
Justin Timberlake’s highly anticipated comeback single, “Selfish” — which dropped Thursday morning — finds the pop superstar getting in his falsetto feels over a smooth midtempo groove.
“So if I get jealous, I can’t help it/I want every bit of you, I guess I’m selfish,” he sweetly croons in the chorus that proves that, even at 42, he still possesses some of that same boy-band charm that made us fall in love with him when he was a curly-haired teen heartthrob.
Indeed, after Timberlake reunited with ’N Sync last fall for the “Trolls Band Together” bop “Better Place,” “Selfish” takes him back to the swoon-worthy sincerity of his boy-band days — long before he fell victim to cancel culture for his purported misdeeds with Janet Jackson (after their 2004 Super Bowl halftime performance) and ex Britney Spears.
But while the song recaptures a kind of lost innocence, it also has some muted, moody beats — think Drake — and a hint of melancholy from an older soul.
“Selfish” — which reteams Timberlake with longtime producer Timbaland, while bringing in new collaborators Louis Bell (Taylor Swift, Post Malone) and Cirkut (Maroon 5, The Weeknd) — is the first single from the singer’s upcoming sixth studio album, “Everything I Thought It Was,” due March 15.
Timberlake also dropped the “Selfish” video, and like the song, it’s a more subtle, subdued affair than, say, “Filthy,” from his last LP, 2018’s “Man of the Woods.”
It’s just Justin singing and vibing behind the scenes, proudly rocking the grays in his beard now.
The clip — directed by Bradley J. Calder, who also helmed SZA’s “Snooze” video in which Timberlake appeared — takes a surrealistic spin before he breaks into some of his famously fancy footwork.
And yes — he’s still got the moves even now firmly in his Daddy Era.
Timberlake will continue on the comeback trail as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, and then he’ll perform a rare club show at New York’s Irving Plaza next Wednesday.
Welcome back, JT.