#REVIEW: ROBIN THICKE – “BLURRED LINES”

I don’t often review Albums, but when I do, it is because it is remarkable. I’ve always enjoyed Robin Thicke‘s Vocals but one thing that has prevented me from becoming a bigger Fan always was that I felt his Music geared to a demographic outside my Pop Sensibilities. Blurred Lines is his sixth studio Disc and this Album for me, is a near-Masterpiece. Thicke successfully takes his signature Soul, embracing the Electronic-Pop trend which has been dominating the airwaves for the past few years and it totally works. The results never seem gimmicky and the progression to a more Top 40-friendly sound is actually rather seamless for him.

The Disc starts with what already is a massive hit in its Titular Track (featuring longtime Collaborator Pharrell and T.I.), a hint of a Summer and the Dance Party to come in the vast majority of the Disc. One right after the other, Thicke delivers a brand of Disco that is familiar not unlike an Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson with a dash of Jamiroquai, yet at once sounding extremely fresh on Tracks like Take it Easy on Me, Ooo La La (which deservedly should be the Album’s third Single), Ain’t No Hat 4 That (perhaps the Disc’s fourth Single?) and the defiantly inspirational Get in My Way. “Ain’t nobody gonna get in my way/I’m gonna make it no matter what you say”, he tells all the Nay-Sayers. If you loved Blurred Lines, you will adore second Single Give it 2 U (featuring Kendrick Lamar, co-written by will.i.am), deliciously vulgar, yet irrepressibly sexy. In all, the Disc is almost entirely cohesive in its uptempo Tracks.

The Top of the World and The Good Life slow things down nicely, capping-off Blurred Lines on an uplifting note, celebrating and savouring his deserved success. The latter has Thicke getting candid, confessing “My Father says what will you make it?/My Mother says you’ll learn to fake it/But I’m not you and you’re not me/But I’m as good as I can be.”. If there ever was a time for the handsome blue-eyed Singer/Songwriter to sit back and reflect upon what he’s accomplished in what’s amounted to a lasting Career, it would be right now at the height of his Fame. No blurred lines here, the vision is clear.

Universal Music Canada releases Blurred Lines on Tuesday, July 30, 2013.