Recorded in Los Angeles, and featuring horn players from Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, Robin Thicke's third CD maintains the retro pop-soul feel of his 2007 breakthrough The Evolution of Robin Thicke. "It brings back the Seventies — loud horns, loud strings, loud drums," says Thicke. The other main influence? Barack Obama. "He's the inspiration for what I'm feeling," says Thicke. The funked-out first single, "Magic," is full of Obama-worthy optimism, and "Dreamworld" addresses the racism Thicke has seen while traveling with his wife, who is black. "That song is a direct response to walking in Mississippi and being looked at sideways," he says.

Click here to listen to "Magic" in full

Check out all of the albums in the 2008 Fall Music Preview