It’s been 21 years since *NSYNC said “Bye Bye Bye” to us as a recording act.
However the wait for the boy band’s much-anticipated reunion is finally over with Friday’s release of “Higher Place,” the group’s first single since 2002’s “Girlfriend.”
And Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick sound just in sync as ever on this buoyant bop from the “Trolls Band Together” soundtrack, which indeed takes you to a “Higher Place.”
After a whistling intro — a hook that repeats throughout the song — it opens with what might be an announcement about how they’re still higher together in any case these years: “It’s some type of love, it’s some kind of fireside/I’m already up, but you lift me higher.”
While other members of the group sing lead within the verses, it’s Timberlake who owns the chorus together with his familiar falsetto. And when he sings “I’m so excited to see you excited” over the bass-bumping disco groove, it’s as if he knows exactly how giddy this track is making *NSYNC fans all world wide.
Timberlake, who also voices the character of Branch in “Trolls Band Together,” co-wrote and co-produced “Higher Place” with Shellback, and the track is a satisfying sequel to their previous collaboration on the 2016 “Trolls” smash “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”
Prefer it’s predecessor, it’s the proper summer song — except it’s arriving at first of fall.
But there’s no denying the sunny pop sheen of “Higher Place.” And though it feels more like a Timberlake song than an *NSYNC one, it’s not all concerning the “SexyBack” singer — as those creamy harmonies attest.
The tune previews the “Trolls Band Together” soundtrack” — with Timberlake returning as executive music producer — which might be released on Oct. 20. The album features JT on other tracks in addition to his fellow “Trolls” Anna Kendrick, Troye Sivan, Camila Cabello and Kid Cudi.
Within the film, which hits theaters a month after the soundtrack on Nov. 17, Timberlake’s character Branch seeks to reunite together with his brothers, who were once in a boy band with him called BroZone.
And if it’s anything like this *NSYNC reunion — which was first teased after the quintet appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards together earlier this month — then it needs to be more warm-and-fuzzy feels.