The performer might be concentrating more on his acting career than singing right now, but he's still plugged into music — N.E.R.D and Kings of Leon are current favorites.

Just because Justin Timberlake is on indefinite hiatus from recording and performing music (in order to focus on stardom in such movies as “The Social Network” and the upcoming romantic comedy “Friends With Benefits” and the sci-fi thriller “Now”), don't assume he's unplugged his stereo for the duration too.

The former 'N Sync heartthrob and erstwhile Mr. SexyBack stays keenly aware of modern pop, even if he isn't making any. And these days, Timberlake feels particularly moved by the 2010 album “Nothing” from N.E.R.D. — the hip-hop/rock-funk side project of the hit-making duo Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who produced much of the singer's 2002 album, “Justified.”

Timberlake warmed to the subject when Pop & Hiss asked him what's in heavy rotation on his iPod:
“‘Come Around Sundown' is really good — the latest Kings of Leon,” Timberlake said.

“I really feel inspired by what Pharrell and Chad did with the new N.E.R.D. album,” he continued. “Those producers care a lot about sonics. I hear the Doors and Queen a lot on that album. Pharrell has a way of being cryptic with his lyrics, though, so I'm still trying to decipher what he's talking about.”

-- Chris Lee

Related: 

- Justin Timberlake is focused on film

Photo: Ricardo DeArata / Los Angeles Times

The dawn of 2011 held special promise, it seemed, for fans of Justin Timberlake's music. Though the nearly thirtysomething star recently told Times reporter Chris Lee that he's taking a break from music to pursue the presumably more serious goal of Oscar-nabbing, a shiny new sign to the contrary popped up late last week, in the form of a leaked new song, the frenetically finger-poppin' "Take You Down."

JT devotees greeted the song, supposedly produced by JT's old pals the Neptunes, with cautious excitement. Some bloggers noted that the vocals didn't really live up to the high standards of the falsetto-wielding future action hero, and most sources threw around the word "demo" to describe the song, which has a rump-shaking beat and some cute vocal effects, but doesn't exactly vault into the stratosphere.

Still, some of us were fooled. Such is the hunger for new material from the guy who's played a crucial role in helping 21st-century teen pop grow up.

In a story in this Sunday’s Calendar section, Justin Timberlake comes clean about his decision to go on indefinite hiatus from making music in lieu of a newer –- and in light of the Oscar buzz surrounding his performance in “The Social Network” -- suddenly viable pursuit: movie stardom.

“My first two albums, I woke up and it was undeniable what I had to be doing. I had to be making an album,” Timberlake said. “It’s not undeniable to me now.”

The pop superstar has remained mostly schtum about his choice to forgo recording and performing music for the last few years (apart from the occasional guest verse or late-night performance) and even got a bit testy when buttonholed by Entertainment Weekly on the subject.

But in a wide-ranging interview with Pop & Hiss, it became clear Timberlake is abundantly aware that his career choices don’t sit well with everybody –- even while he refuses to let such outward perceptions sway his creative resolve.

“Sometimes people look at me like I’m ungrateful for my music career because I’m not putting out an album every year,” said Timberlake. “I don’t know what to say to that. There’s nothing I can say that sounds genuine to those people because I’m subject to their projections at me. I try not to be a prisoner of that. If I engage in that, then I’m not an artist.”