Write what you know, Robin Thicke learns

When it comes to his work, Robin Thicke has a pretty strict quality-control policy in place. "Every time I write a song I'll play it for my wife," the 30-year-old R&B singer explains, smoking a cigarette earlier this week outside a Burbank recording studio. "I'll sing the first couple lines, and if I start to cry, or she starts to cry, we both know that it's a special one. It's almost like if I don't cry, it's not a keeper."

Thicke and his wife, actress Paula Patton, must have done a lot of crying last year: "The Evolution of Robin Thicke," his 2006 sophomore disc, recently passed the million-sales mark, and the album's hit single, "Lost Without U," has become virtually inescapable on the radio. A hushed, bare-bones plea for a lover's approbation, the song nods to the old-school soul of Al Green (whose "Let's Stay Together" Thicke often performs), but it also has a fresh, modern feel that makes it stand out from the hyper-colorful clutter on MTV. In a sure sign of its old-meets-new appeal, Thicke -- the son of sitcom star Alan Thicke and singer Gloria Loring -- has sung the tune on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "American Idol," perhaps the two highest-profile platforms on TV right now.

" 'Lost Without U' was a big buzz record for us," says Julie Pilat, music director at KIIS-FM (102.7), the Top 40 station whose annual Wango Tango concert today in Irvine has Thicke on the lineup with Kelly Clarkson, Fergie, Ludacris and other contemporary chart-toppers. He's also headlining shows at the House of Blues in Anaheim and West Hollywood on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. "His music has huge appeal because it's as real as it gets. When someone speaks the truth, it shines through and connects deeply with the audience."

Thicke says that truth is what matters most to him.

"Every word on this album is autobiographical," he says. "My intention was to let people in." That's a different approach than he took on his debut, 2003's "A Beautiful World." A much more eclectic effort than "Evolution," Thicke's first album found the singer dabbling in rock, pop and disco; its first single, "When I Get You Alone," featured Thicke singing over a sample of Walter Murphy's mid-'70s curio "A Fifth of Beethoven."

"That music wasn't about connecting," Thicke says. "It was about 'Look what I can do!' I wanted to be all things to all people: rockers and hip-hoppers, girls and guys. But I was thinking too much. I wasn't just making it."