Robin Thicke is Giving Us Something Else to Think About

(andPOP) - Robin Thicke is chilled out. His speaking voice, like his music, is velvety, with a little roughness around the edges. "I've loved soul music, gospel music and hip hop music since I can remember," Thicke tells andPOP. "Then I got into rock music like Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Stones. Nowadays, I feel my music is mostly soulful with always a little bit of rock and roll."

And this infusion seems to translate well for the auditory senses. His third album, Something Else, was released last week, following last year's The Evolution of Robin Thicke. From the album titles alone, Thicke's movement through his musical journey seems largely motivated by ideas of change and progression; in fact, he says the new album's title signifies "a time for a change," but is sure to note that the "soul and heart" from the last album are the same.

He's been on the road for a few years, which has definitely been a source of creative inspiration; as well, he's looking at a change on a larger scale – particularly the changing U.S. political climate and the new future face of the White House. Thicke thinks the public's support of Barack Obama is an organic shift in the right direction.

"What America's been facing and what we've been showing the world the last eight years is not representative of how people feel here. Obama is more representative of the people – hard-working, middle class America," he says. "Us younger cats, we're just from a different era...Race is not the same in my neighbourhood, in my heart, in my generation, you know? It's not about the colour of their skin but the content of their character."

Thicke's views on creating good music are also rooted in content of character. "The really great thing about music is that it's not like the movies where you just make one movie and do your thing," he says. "You build an audience, you build fans. You keep trying to make great music and put on great shows, and whoever wants to see it, that's up to them."

Thicke has been in the business for a number of years, writing and producing for dozens of hit albums behind-the-scenes, including those for Usher, Christina Aguilera and Michael Jackson, before he made the move to put his own music in the foreground. "I think the problem was I was afraid to show my face and fail. Like I was afraid that maybe I wasn't a great artist, you know what I mean? So I hid away and then finally one day I saw all the people I was writing songs for were all over the TV," he says, laughing. "And, it was just the fear that was holding me back, and that's not good enough for me."

Thicke is on the road again through October, hitting a handful of North American cities, including Montreal tonight and Toronto tomorrow. He wouldn't pass up an opportunity to pay some homage to his Canadian heritage (his father, actor Alan Thicke of Growing Pains fame, is Canadian). While his time on the road will be busy, he offers a few road trip musical suggestions for individuals with a long stretch of highway in front of them: "Gotta have the Lil' Wayne album (Tha Carter III, Thicke sings on "Tie My Hands") on, Usher's album (Here I Stand), and," he says, "of course, my last album."