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  • The Guardian

    Stetsons, beards and good, honest sweat: why pop stars are going back to basics

    Country and Americana have become shorthand for mainstream musicians who want to mature. Justin Timberlake is the latest to join the ranch
    by Dorian Lynskey Jan 20, 2018 4 minutes
    Justin Timberlake Illustration: Michelle Thompson

    One of the new year’s biggest surprises has been the appearance of a pensive son of the soil by the name of Justin Timberlake. In a short teaser video announcing his fifth solo album, Man of the Woods, the former ‘NSync star went a-wanderin’ through forests, fields, mountains and streams, lookin’ fer answers to this big ol’ riddle we call life. Bearded and rugged, he looked like a man who wouldn’t think twice about climbing into the body of a dead horse for warmth. This on-the-nose rebrand inspired rather more hilarity than Timberlake might have expected, resembling as it did a commercial for a cologne that smells of cattle, woodsmoke and good, honest sweat.

    For pop stars, the tropes of reversed out of a club-pop cul-de-sac with the relatively earthy Joanne. Last year, mothballed her twerking pants and revisited her country roots on Younger Now. is promising a new album, Golden, inspired by Dolly Parton, the hot-pink intersection of country and camp. Even Beyoncé turned to country on 2016’s Daddy Lessons, her riff on inheritance, religion and the second amendment. In various ways, pop has never been so country-curious.

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