Album review: Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines (Polydor/Interscope)

It's amazing what one hit can do for an act's profile: Robin Thicke had laboured long and hard with little recognition outside the core US R&B audience until the single “Blurred Lines”, its loping groove irresistibly peppered with cowbell, wrought its magic on a global scale.

Thicke's wheedling tone and sylvan falsetto are engaging enough on this sixth album, though his clumsily backhanded way with a compliment (“You're far from plastic” – gee, thanks!) deteriorates as the album proceeds, from the simply tasteless to gross, predatory boasts about having “a big dick for ya” on “Give It 2 U”. Musically it's too predictable to make much of an impression, apart from the retro-disco-funk groove of “Ain't No Hat 4 That”, which recalls the slick heyday of Earth, Wind & Fire.

Download: Blurred Lines; Ain't No Hat 4 That