Rating: NNN
Robin Thicke’s sixth studio release – sharing a name with the uncontested song of summer and its racy video – has more than its share of morally questionable, chauvinistic and sexually over-the-top lyrics. Restraint would serve this album well, but Thicke is here for a good time, in case you couldn’t tell.
Luckily, slick production (including Pharrell, will.i.am and Timbaland) and guest spots from Kendrick Lamar and T.I. distract from all that Lothario shtick enough to make the album a poppy, easy summer listen that grows on you with each play. Lamar’s verse on the electro-funk-infused Give It 2 U is proof of his continued golden touch and almost (almost) makes you forget some of Thicke’s awkward come-ons. The line-crossing lyrics soften with 4 The Rest Of My Life, a classic R&B ballad written for his wife and high school sweetheart, Paula Patton. Bonus track Put Your Lovin On Me is where Thicke truly shines. (It also sounds like it belongs on Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience.)
Top track: Put Your Lovin’ On Me
Robin Thicke plays WHAM BAM at Molson Amphitheatre August 31.
