You already know that we've been checking for updates on Robin Thicke's sophmore LP. Well, dude personally stopped by today to play The Evolution Of Robin Thicke for us on the office hi-fi. He's just a gent like that.
The disc - his first for Star Trak - was recorded at Robin's home studio ("It's not like a bedroom studio...I mean, it is in my bedroom but it's a real studio.") and highlights a much more intimate, stripped-down take on Thicke's signature blue-eyed soul - lots of fingerpicked acoustic guitars, piano ballads, etc. It's music designed for break-ups, hook-ups, and moments in between.
Evolution is not all quiet storms, however. Along with innovatively bumping lead single "Wanna Love U Girl" (which came about when Jimmy Iovine begged Robin to "go down to Miami with Pharrell and make 'Billie Jean'"), beat-driven standouts include the awesome Faith Evans collab "Got 2 Be Down", the relentlessly funky "In My Dreams" (complete with vocal homages to Prince), and our personal favorite, "Cocaine", where Thicke's falsetto is laid over a triggered guitar lick and what could almost be the bubbling drum hits from Cajmere's "Percolator."
Other than the single, all the tracks on this LP were constructed in-house by Thicke and his longtime production partner ProJay. Guest spots are kept to a minimum (just Faith and Skateboard P, by our count), but keep an ear out for a remix to "Wanna Love U Girl" featuring none other than Lil Wayne, who it turns out is one of the singer's biggest fans. Weezy even personally requested to sample "Oh Shooter" from Thicke's first album for his forthcoming Tha Carter II. Nolia and the valley unite!
Check for Robin performing at the House Of Blues in Anneheim this Saturday, and pick up The Evolution Of Robin Thicke when it hits on Valentines Day in 2006.