Robin Thicke’s #edgy makeover continues with a new Timbaland-produced single dubbed “Take it Easy on Me.” The soul-powered dance-pop platter features shots of Patron, sounds of inhalation, talk about cherry pies, and all of the trying-too-hard sexy voice (the aural equivalent of duckface?) that you’ve come to expect from the guy who gave us “Blurred Lines.” There are also these little “yeah!” overdubs (c. 1:25) that sound exactly like Justin Timberlake which, when paired with Timbaland’s own familiar baritone bark, gives us a particularly icky feeling — like there’s suddenly something wrong with liking March’s generally quite excellent The 20/20 Experience.
Thicke’s hammy delivery seems beamed in from the Boy Band Era, and reminds us of all the things we’ve tried to forget about our suit-and-tie-sporting grown ass friend JT. Thankfully the former *NSYNC singer has avoided collaborating with Thicke thus far, but he might want to call his go-to producer to make sure Timbo isn’t pulling samples from the wrong folder on his hard drive. The Blurred Lines album is due out July 30 via Star Trak and Interscope. Oh, and you can now buy prints of screen-caps from the infamous “Blurred Lines” video. Revisit the Kendrick Lamar team-up “Give it 2 U” if you must.
