"Sex is calling," announces Pharrell, whose sweet-pea appearance belies a predatory instinct. The track stomps like Stayin' Alive or an upside down Diana Ross while it reveals an unsettlingly base side to the singer's romantic nature. Hunter More love for the seventies, and more love for the ladies. It's a winning tune, but with an opening line like, "A winner never quits and a quitter never wins," one suspects Ol' Shakespeare Timberlake might have helped with the lyrics. The album cover, by the way, features Pharrell with three women, all in bathrobes and presumably all different from each other.īrand New Justin Timberlake contributes his platinum-dollar falsetto aside Pharrell's own high voice for a Soul Train conga-boogaloo. "What can we do," he shrugs, speaking for all the "helpless romantics" who can't keep it in their pants. Lyrically, what Pharell means by "different" is his wish for a little of the strange, meaning a girl unlike his previous (or possibly current) one. Marilyn Monroe Lavish strings courtesy of the film composer Hans Zimmer introduce the album and opening track, giving way to Pharrell's one-word whisper of "different," followed by a graceful disco style to which Michael Jackson might have danced. Here's how it breaks down, track by track. The production is ace, the grooves are great – all in all, the sounds are uptight and outta sight. The new album, a sexy, danceable salute to the seventies, features appearances by Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Daft Punk and Alicia Keys, among others. Today sees the release of G I R L, Williams's first album since his 2006 solo debut In My Mind. What's left then? His own album, that's what. The 40-year-old Virginia native worked on pair of the more successful music projects of 2013 – Daft Punk's Random Access Memories album (specifically the hits Get Lucky and Lose Yourself to Dance) and Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines single – as well as putting out his own Oscar-nominated Happy, an ebullient chart-topping tune accompanied by a ground-breaking 24-hour-long video. He is also the co-curator of the exhibition This is Not a Toy, currently up and running at Toronto's Design Exchange. He is a producer, a fashion designer, a rapper and a five-star collaborator. If Pharrell Williams is not a renaissance man, he is at least a man of many hats.