Will Justin Timberlake's New Album Be a Confused Jumble or Blended Brilliance of Styles?

Yesterday, Justin Timberlake surprised the world and thrilled his fans by announcing a new album and sharing a one-minute teaser video. There were a lot of clues in that clip that suggested the artistic direction the 10-time GRAMMY winner is headed in for this era, but now his record label has shared new info that appears to contradict what the musician himself seemed to say. 

So, what exactly is going on with his new album, and what will it sound like?

When the former *NSYNC member first posted the teaser visual for his fifth solo album Man of the Woods, everybody immediately assumed that he was going to properly try his hand at country. There was the title, plus the woodsy, Americana-esque visual cues, and even the snippets of new tunes in the video all point West—all of which do make sense for Timberlake. Towards the end of the last period of his career, when promotion surrounding his album The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2 was concluding, he partnered with up-and-coming musician Chris Stapleton for a special country performance and released twangy tune “Drink You Away” as a single, though it wasn’t one of his biggest successes.