Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie" video, released on Valentine's Day, plays like a excerpt from 1960s-themed films Ocean'11 and Dreamgirls. The short directed by David Fincher is shot in black and white. Timberlake, featured rapper Jay Z and other cast members are dressed in suits and ties. And the show venue hearkens the look and feel of the Motown era.
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The video compliments the song, a modernization of soul music from the '70s with JT's falsetto backed by trumpets, finger snaps and analog Moog synthesizer keys.
Instead of following the song's storyline of trying to woo a pretty woman, Timberlake offers the backdrop of the lifestyle. The treatment is like behind-the-scenes footage. Timberlake's captured getting a massage, drinking and smoking cigars in his hotel suite with Jay-Z, rehearsing with the band and background dancers, and admiring the showgirls backstage. His choreography, like New Edition's, puts a hip hop spin on the footwork of The Jackson 5, The Temptations and The Chi-Lites.
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When Jay-Z emerges, he stays in his cool guy mode. He sits in a studio while rapping into a vintage microphone, and when he later joins JT on stage, he's holding a drink in his right hand, bow tie unraveled.
The song is the first single from Timberlake's comeback album, The 20/20 Experience, that is scheduled to be released on March 15 on RCA Records.