“Say Something” [ft. Chris Stapleton]

In the sad wake of the dated and yelpy “Filthy” (more like PastSex/AnimalNoises!) and the really apocalyptically awful “Supplies” (pronounced “supply-ay-ays”), Justin Timberlake’s third Man of the Woods single was poised to make good on the album’s LL Bean-catalog rollout. After all, “Say Something” reunited Timberlake with the Nashville country singer Chris Stapleton, who performed a show-stopping duet with Justin at the 2015 Country Music Awards. But, apparently, the two have nothing to say, and they’re absurdly proud of it.

Like “Filthy,” “Say Something” is produced by Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds collaborators Timbaland and Danja. (The former may have forgotten that he already had a 2009 song with the same title.) Rather than attempting a full country crossover, Timbaland adds percussive flourishes with some guitar work, aiming for “Jolene” but landing closer to Tonic. This is the setting for Timberlake and Stapleton to trade verses about how they’re being expected to comment on stuff—what stuff exactly isn’t totally clear—but they don’t wanna “get caught up in the rhythm.” (Oh, guys, didn’t you hear Katy Perry? We’re all already chained to it.)

When you can’t say anything nice, you might do well to sing Timberlake and Stapleton’s complacent mantra: “Sometimes the greatest way to say something/Is to say nothing at all.“ Subtlety is lacking here: The last time they sing this phrase, they cut off, suddenly, on the word “nothing.” When Stapleton sings about “harmony,” the instruments drop out to emphasize, yep, voices in harmony. If “Filthy,” like Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion,” was Timberlake’s poppy pre-Super Bowl misfire, then “Say Something” should be his “Million Reasons”—except he doesn’t give you one good reason to stay here. It’s exactly the wrong message at a time when people with far less of a platform are, in fact, showing the power in speaking out. When words fail, music is supposed to speak, fine. But if Timberlake is to be believed, silence is golden. What bad advice for these times.