There's no question it's a good time for Aloe Blacc to hop on the soul train.

The University of Southern California-grad-turned-singer/rapper got an unexpected career boost earlier this year when his song 'I Need a Dollar' began rocking TV screens as the theme song of HBO's hit series 'How to Make It in America.' Up next, he's got a new album, entitled 'Good Things,' coming out Sept. 28 on Stones Throw Records.

The album's focus is on soul with a retro feel, and considering Sharon Jones' Billboard Top 20 success, the moment is right to showcase this sound. It's a fact Blacc is well aware of.

"There have been some really good successes in the industry with soul music recently," he says. "It's basically whetting the ears of a new audience -- the young teenager audience. The 20, 30, and 40-somethings are already acquainted with it, they grew up listening to Al Green, Marvin Gaye and Bill Withers."

Blacc co-wrote and co-produced the album with Williamsburg, Brooklyn production team Truth and Soul, which he says accounts for the gritty, "live" feel of the record. This throwback soul sound was a deliberate choice to follow up his ultra-eclectic 2006 debut, 'Shine Through.'

"It basically confirmed an idea that I had in the past, that 'Shine Through' would be like the table of contents to the book of Aloe Blacc's catalog or career," he says. "So the first chapter of the book is soul music. The next chapter is hip hop. Chapter three is maybe salsa or dancehall."

For Blacc, the recent exposure he's gotten through the HBO theme song underlines the fact that music careers aren't all about album sales. In fact, he says that the album, as we know it, is becoming a thing of the past.

"The music industry became album-based when they figured they could spread out the manufacturing costs by putting more songs on the lacquer," Blacc tells Spinner. "Now with digital distributing, I think it's going to be a song-by-song situation."

Although Blacc acknowledges that "album-length statements" will suffer as a result of this shift, he also sees an upside.

"If an artist is able to develop a following, perhaps they don't need to make their statement in the album, they can make it in the interview," he says. "They can let the music be fun and be a role model in their philosophy and politics."