Rating: N
Why would Robin Thicke release another full-length so soon after Blurred Lines? The album, which includes tracks called Get Her Back, Too Little Too Late and, yes, Love Can Grow Back, is an attempt to win back his wife, Paula Patton, after his multiple alleged infidelities.
Solidifying the theory that Thicke rushed the record together in a weird play for both public sympathy and capital gain, each song reeks of some other influence, the only real originality coming via the confessional and often TMI lyrics.
The album wobbles between Timberlake-style sexy-time R&B, Bublé-light standards and flat attempts at sincere John Legend-type balladry.
Big, boozy brass makes soul-bluesy Love Can Grow Back a winner, if you can ignore the similarity with Etta James’s At Last. Thicke’s James Brown impression on Living In New York City is bad, and the 50s rock ‘n’ roll Tippy Toes feels least authentic of all.
The George Thorogood-winking Something Bad isn’t going to win him any points either. “There’s something b-b-b-b-b-bad in me,” Thicke growls before the chirpy backup vocalists chime in: “You’ve been such a bad baby! Bad baby!”
Couldn’t make this shit up.
Top track: Get Her Back
