Justin Timberlake Mirrors Pop Peers With New Single From The 20/20 Experience

Justin Timberlake was so enthused to be appearing twice in Los Angeles last night, that he went ahead and let us all have another glimpse of his forthcoming new album The 20/20 Experience, in the form of a mighty eight minute long song ‘Mirrors’. That’s quite the length for a Timberlake track.

The star was performing twice in LA last night, first calling in to the Grammy Awards, and then playing a set at the Hollywood Palladium to a sold out crowd. In what was a busy night for the returning star – who’ll be releasing his first new album since 2006 – he also made 'Mirrors’ live. The song's to us a little like, dare we say it, something of the latest Bruno Mars album Unorthodox Jukebox. No bad thing really, although JT’s always had a distinctive and intangible sense of him on his material, whereas this is perhaps a rather more open nod to other pop contemporaries of the moment.

Justin Timberlake at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month, but the Social Network star is fully back in music mode now

There’s no denying its ambition though, with string arrangements and layers on layers of other sonic elements combining to create a truly epic sound that goes beyond the star’s usual swagger. Pulling off a song that still relies on an instantaneous pop feel yet goes on for so long is hard to do, and though we must be honest and ponder if it does drag a little, there’s enough going on that JT’s clearly aware of the need to keep it interesting. The 20/20 Experience is released on March 19, 2013.

What do you think of new Justin Timberlake track 'Mirrors'?