A new Timbaland track has appeared online, presumably as a teaser for the super-producer’s forthcoming album Opera Noir. Titled Smile, it’s a sweetly soulful duet with V. Bozeman, who’s signed to his own Mosley Music Group. “So let me turn that frown upside down,” they sing together on the gently uplifting chorus. “Let’s just toast to love that we found.”
Timbaland announced Opera Noir last year, saying the album would feature “me and my new artist, her name is V. Just me and her. And Cee-Lo. That’s it”. Speaking to Revolt TV at the time, he described the album as his version of Dr Dre‘s 1992 opus The Chronic. “I finally made my Chronic,” he promised fans.
Timbaland has yet to announce a release date for Opera Noir, which will be his first album since 2009’s Shock Value II. He has also been working on original music for season two of hip-hop drama Empire, whose soundtrack he executive producers, and hinted earlier this week that he might be releasing unheard music from Aaliyah.