New Albums: Robin Thicke and Alicia Keys

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December 18, 2009
New Albums: Robin Thicke and Alicia Keys

Robin Thicke – Sex Therapy: The Session

Well I started laughing immediately at the start of Sex Therapy: The Session, but not in a bad way: on the first track, “911,” there is a lady’s voice saying “Please hold. The doctor will be right with you.” and then cheesy elevator music starts playing. What a clever way to start this album!

The rest of the album is, for a lack of a better word, really sexy sounding. It’s smooth and soulful, but still R&B. Robin Thicke’s voice sounds great and he got some major artists to work with him to make a solid album. The first single, “Sex Therapy,” is relevant and a strong choice for a first single. I’m always glad when good songs are chosen for that—a lot of artists just don’t know how to properly choose a debut single (John Mayer, Keane…I love them all but they just make bad first-single-choices).

This is Robin Thicke’s fourth studio album and contains 18 new tracks (although, that does include the 22-second intro so I guess you could argue there are only 17 new songs from Thicke). And unlike most studio albums, this one holds to a strict theme, as if the listener is really involved in a “session” of therapy. Well done.

Check out the album today!

Alicia Keys – The Element of Freedom

So I have to admit: I’m not the biggest Alicia Keys fan. I like her part in Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” alright (and actually, there is a “Part II” on Keys’s CD), but, if we’re going to be honest, she could have been easily replaced on that track.

I do, however, respect her and think she’s a fine songwriter for people who enjoy her and her music. She can be soft-spoken and elegant, and seems to really know what kinds of sounds her voice can handle, and knows how to sound great. On The Element of Freedom, Keys sings a lot of slower melodies; but like I said, I think that’s fine because that’s the style that works for her. “Love is My Disease” is particularly good.

The Element of Freedom is Keys’s fourth studio album and has fourteen new tracks (including a 12-second intro…not quite as clever as Thicke’s, but works fine, too). She’s a multiplatinum-selling, Grammy-winning artist and seems only to be growing. The new album’s on sale now!

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