Bruno Mars releases his new album today, his first solo album in 10 years, although it may seem incredible given how omnipresent his music has been in popular culture in this period. ‘The Romantic’ was presented by ‘I Just Might’, a single questioned for playing it too safe but which is holding up well on the charts. A month and a half after his release he continues to hover around Spotify’s Global top 20, yes, already behind his duet with Lady Gaga, excluded from ‘The Romantic’ although it fits much better than in ‘Mayhem’.
The best thing that can be said at the outset of Bruno Mars’ album is that it lives up to its name, ‘The Romantic’. The album opens with a bolero called ‘Risk It All’ with which it goes a long way: it is the song chosen to open today’s Today’s Top Hits playlist and it has a video with mariachis.
The other surprise of an album of 9 songs is precisely its Latin influence, which permeates two other songs, although in other styles. ‘Cha Cha Cha’ is a chachachá as indicated by its title and its happy chorus “come on an cha cha cha with me, cha cha cha with you.” A line similar to the one presented by the yeyé ‘Something Serious’. I wish the salsa version of ‘Die With a Smile’ from the Super Bowl had been recovered!
The remaining 5 songs are more predictable, pending finding out which will be the big “grower” of this project, which will end up in television advertisements, on TikTok, in popular imagery. ‘God Was Showing Off’ and ‘On My Soul’ are the typical soul songs that Bruno Mars makes, inspired by big names like Marvin Gaye and James Brown, respectively. ‘Why You Wanna Fight?’ It is your beautiful typical ballad.
The album closes with an electric guitar ballad titled ‘Nothing Left’ and another 50’s ballad titled ‘Dance With Me’. Conspicuous by their absence are explosive funk numbers in the vein of ‘Uptown Funk’ or even more songs similar to ‘I Just Might’. Bruno Mars has taken his position as ‘The Romantic’ very seriously and the silky textures, the enormous load of wind instruments, are what are going to define this era.
Charging …