LISTEN: Justin Timberlake returns with some help from Jay Z for new song ‘Suit & Tie’

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The music industry in January is a bit like the weather: bleak, barren and with strong blasts of Emeli Sandé. It’s a quiet time for new music, with songs that have been around for months rebounding up the charts as people spend their iTunes giftcards. And yet the last 10 days have seen plenty of music-related excitement. First there was the return of Suede, before David Bowie casually unveiled his first new song in 10 years the following day. Two days later Beyoncé, also due to release her fifth solo album in the next few months, announced there would be a new Destiny’s Child song, Nuclear. By this point Twitter was in fits.

Prior to the Destiny’s Child announcement, however, Justin Timberlake – full-time actor, part-time scatter cushion doyen and possibly the greatest male entertainer since Michael Jackson – tweeted: “Thursday, January 10th, 2013 at 9:01 am PST.” While there was initial speculation that this was just something to do with MySpace (Timberlake is a stakeholder in the ailing social network), the tweet fuelled earlier rumours about his imminent return after a claim last year by producer Jim Bean that he was working on an unspecified “Justin Timberlake project” (it was then hastily denied). In the end Thursday’s activity was little more than an internet tease, with a video showing the singer walking through a recording studio as a voiceover defends his six-year absence from music. At the end he turns to the camera, pops on his headphones and says, “I’m ready.” Click below for full story -