Artist: Robin Thicke
Album: Sex Therapy: The Experience
Release Date: 12.15.09

The doctor is definitely IN on Robin Thicke’s new album Sex Therapy: The Experience — and an experience is exactly what this is, exposing the carnal side of Thicke in a smooth collection of babymakers, ballads and even some uptempo bangers. Sex Therapy delivers hit after hit of sultry and seductive R&B but adds enough versatility to make this a well-rounded album. With guest appearances from Jay-Z, Estelle, Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi and The Game, this album truly is an experience – guaranteed to upgrade your sex game and, quite possibly, the population.

In crooner-mode, Thicke delivers some of his best songs (as expected), including the album’s lead single and title track Sex Therapy. Million Dolla Baby ushers in more smoothness with a sample of Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man and highlights Thicke’s penchant for “making it rain”; with Jazmine Sullivan on the hook it’s a perfect match. The content gets a bit milder towards the end of the album with tracks like 2 Luv Birds and Jus Right showing a more sensitive, less lust-driven Thicke. Diamonds is the final cut on this version of the album, it features The Game and pays tribute to the moms, a nice closer.

Don’t let the smooth taste fool you: Robin Thicke may be a master of the slow jams but he’s not lost under the beat when the album picks up pace. Hip-hop heavyweight Jay-Z brings some heat to Meiple, a track with some interesting wordplay and a crazy contribution from Hov. Barbie-girl Nicki Minaj serves up the sexiness on Shakin It For Daddy and Kid Cudi steps in on one of the album’s standouts Elevatas, adding to the song’s rock-star vibe. Rollercoaster sounds ready for the runway with a guest appearance from Estelle. Snoop Dogg mellows things out on It’s The Morning, an homage to the ever-enjoyable morning sex (one of my favorites…).

Sex Therapy: The Experience is an intense album – there are a lot of intimate cuts here, but they’re balanced with his more emotion-filled songs towards the end. The delivery is smooth, partly due to Robin Thicke’s vocal control and efforts to make good use (not over-use) of his falsetto. Not only do I highly recommend this album, I’d venture to say it’s one of the best male R&B releases this year. Naturally, some songs are stronger contenders than others but there’s not a bad cut on the album at all. Besides, it’s the time of year where you need to keep warm and this album will definitely improve the experience…

Sound-Savvy rates Sex Therapy: The Experience with 4.5 out of 5 platinum headphones.

• » Album Review: Chrisette Michele – Epiphany
• » Album Review: Rihanna - Rated R
• » Yung Berg: Whose Album Is It Anyway?
• » Album Review: Chris Brown - Graffiti
• » Review: Avant - Avant