As most of civilization knows by now, Justin Timberlake is gearing up to release his fifth studio album, Man of the Woods. He recently dropped a new song and video, "Filthy," that had some people scratching their heads.

JT had teased the album days before releasing new music, and the clip portrayed a contemplative Timberlake talking over flashes of snow, wide open plains and wild horses running free as he explained how personal this album is to him, only to release a song that will undoubtedly be blasting at the clubs for the entirety of 2018. Hmmm...

Luckily, Complex spoke with one of the album's producers, Danja, who also worked on 2006's lauded FutureSex/LoveSounds, to get the scoop on "Filthy" and the upcoming album as a whole.

"I like to think of 'Filthy' as the disruption between the world we're living in and his world," Danja explains before confirming the album really will reflect its teaser video. "So, 'Filthy' was just that kick-in-the-door, 'I'm here, and oh by the way, let me erase everything that you've been listening to, let me disrupt the world order and kind of create a new world order,' with this world that he grew up in."

In the studio, Timberlake gave both Danja and longtime producer Timbaland parameters to work with, including a board that had influences from the singer's native Memphis. He hinted that Justin's country-tinged 2013 track, "Drink You Away" was a possible preview of what to expect on Man of the Woods. "'Drink You Away' was, in a sense, a preview. If you want any idea, that would be the closest thing to what you might hear," he divulged.

As far as Justin's participation in the studio, the 35-year-old producer said he was very hands on. "He’d hop on guitar or whatever — he’s very hands-on." Adding,  "Justin is a producer, he’s not just labeled as one because he’s the biggest name and it’s his album. He’s actually hands-on, he’ll hit some keys, play guitar, he plays on a lot of this album. He’s a musician. He didn’t just sit back and let us do our thing and figure it out. We figured it out together."

Luckily the former *NSYNC member won't have us waiting for long to hear the new album for ourselves. Man of the Woods is slated for a February 2 release.

 

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