Justin Timberlake Not Working On New Album, Likes Radiohead

If you suspect Justin Timberlake has logged more hours on Saturday Night Live than in a recording studio working on the follow-up to his 2006 blockbuster FutureSex/LoveSounds, you are correct. The star confirmed for EW's Music Mix that he isn't thinking about his next album, though he is taking on work with other artists. "Right now, I like the idea that things can just kind of pop up and if they feel right I can do them," Timberlake said. "Committing to my own sort of project, that's like, 'Okay, let me block out two years of my life and do it.' I was heavily fulfilled with the last one and I always have this thing with myself that if I can't sleep because I need to do it, then I'm gonna do it. But if I'm not losing sleep over it then."

Just because he isn't recording a new album doesn't mean Timberlake hasn't been busy. First, he launched new label Tennman Records, then revved up his collaboration schedule. Over the past year, the singer has helped Madonna on Hard Candy and its hit "4 Minutes," teamed up with T.I. for "Dead and Gone" and "If I," collaborated with Tennman signee Esmee Denters on "Follow My Lead" and appeared on Ciara's "Love Sex Magic." He's also been an active actor, starring in the upcoming film The Open Road. Add to that list his stint executive-producing a new MTV reality series called The Phone and Timberlake's plate is already pretty full.

But what you really want to know is "What does Timberlake listen to on his iPod?" Lately, he's been rocking out to the Kings of Leon's Only by the Night and the Black Keys' Attack & Release. And be sure to sign up JT alongside Kanye West and Miley Cyrus in the Radiohead fan club. "And of course Radiohead. It's a constant. I enjoy In Rainbows in the morning." Timberlake told EW. "You throw it on in the iPod dock and get ready to leave the house and go on about your day. That album seems to put me in a pretty decent mood." No word whether Thom Yorke snubbed Timberlake as well at the Grammys.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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