Not every teen star can rally fickle 14-year-olds to grow up with his music, rather than grow out of it. But in a canny case of re-branding, Justin Timberlake did it in 2002, putting boy bands (and Britney Spears) behind him with the 3.5 million–selling Justified. (By comparison, that’s about 350,000 times the sales for JC Chasez’s solo CD.) Enlisting the Neptunes and Timbaland, the ’N Sync grad re-created himself as a cred-rich pick-up artist with pop’s most adventurous sounds at his disposal — and dodged a lifetime of Remember the ’90s punch lines.

But on solo album two, which is largely — obsessively, even — about sex, the 25-year-old pulls off an even better trick. While feigning sex-god omnipotence, he keeps some Mouseketeer in his step: He’s boastful and preening, but unsure and giddy with anticipation, too. From the grinding “SexyBack” to the percolating “LoveStoned” (produced by Timbaland, who handles all but two songs) the vibe is all infectious, feverish build-up. For Timberlake, the sexiest thing in the world is flirtation: He’d rather pitch a tent on the dance floor than in the bedroom.

Timberlake’s role model on Justified was Michael Jackson — here it’s the biggest tent-pitcher of all, Prince, from the supple synth-funk of “FutureSex/LoveSound” to the speak-singing seduction of “Summer Love.” He can’t match Prince for sticky, X-rated friction — he’s a gentleman, not a pervert — but he is pop’s most homoerotic ladies’ man since the one who posed in panties and an ascot for Dirty Mind. This is evident in every glistening photo he takes and in his suggestive exchanges with Timbaland. There are no female guests, and none could match the chemistry of TimbaLake anyway, a duo so sympatico even their names blend together. On the standout “My Love” — which straddles the album’s up-tempo FutureSex and balladeering LoveSounds halves — one coos about puppy love over the other’s stroboscopic, salivating beat, and both trade devotionals on the chorus. If Cameron Diaz isn’t a wee bit jealous, she should be.

Download: “FutureSex/LoveSound,” “My Love” feat. T.I., “Summer Love”