Bruno Mars: The Romantic Album Assessment

If imitation is the sincerest type of flattery, Bruno Mars’ heroes are drowning in compliments. The pop juggernaut has all the time been a grasp impersonator, from his childhood gig performing as Elvis round Hawaii to the soul and funk pastiche of his 2010 debut Doo-Wops & Hooligans, to his collaborative album with Anderson .Paak that celebrated the seductive irreverence of ‘60s and ‘70s R&B hits. More often than not, Mars’ reproductions work properly for him: He’s one in every of music’s most absurdly adorned artists, with 16 Grammy Awards, 10 No. 1 singles, and extra month-to-month Spotify listeners than Dangerous Bunny, Taylor Swift, or the Weeknd. “Uptown Funk,” his incomprehensibly large music with Mark Ronson, shortly dethroned “Blurred Traces” because the de facto choice on company social gathering playlists, certain to get your boss loosening his tie only a bit. However on The Romantic, Mars’ first solo album since 2016’s funk pastiche 24K Magic, his style parroting comes off extra as marriage ceremony reception slop than an thrilling comeback.

From the primary single “I Simply Would possibly,” a pleading request that his lover have the ability to transfer on the dancefloor at his degree, it’s clear that Mars is inviting extra comparisons to groovier hits of yesteryear than regular. It jogged my memory of each Junior Senior’s “Transfer Your Ft” and Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Really feel Like Dancing,” hitting the identical melodies or gang vocal inflections. Because the album progresses, it seems like he shoved some {dollars} right into a dive bar jukebox: momentary references to Tito Puente, Curtis Mayfield, and the proto-disco pop hits of late-era Motown fill it with an uncanny familiarity. It’s laborious to not wish to Shazam every music, complicated it for one thing older and even one other Bruno Mars minimize: break-up ballad “Nothing Left” feels eerily just like “After I Was Your Man.”

A minimum of Mars’ aptitude for Latin pop pushes the music ahead. He fronts his personal Mexican bolero on opener “Danger It All,” and “Cha Cha Cha” naturally pulls from the Cuban dance fashion of the identical title (together with a surprisingly playful interpolation of Juvenile’s “Sluggish Movement” on the refrain). Conga drummer Daniel Rodriguez elevates these moments; when The Romantic peaks, it slides right into a bossa nova-lite rhythm.

The manufacturing is squeaky clear and glossy as regular. Mars co-produced and co-wrote each music with a few of his frequent collaborators: D’Mile, who labored on Silk Sonic, and James Fauntleroy, who contributed to 24 Magic. The advantage of each Mars album is that it goes down clean; it’s algorithm-friendly, simple listening that neither overstays its welcome nor appears like a burden when it pops up on each pre-made Spotify playlist. Mars’ voice additionally stays pitch-perfect. He’s nonetheless a charismatic performer and a naturally proficient singer with a tone that may change shortly from crystalline supply to a rum-soaked rasp in his higher belt. When he channels the latter, The Romantic reaches its higher moments, like on the sultry yearnings of “Why You Wanna Battle?” and “On My Soul.”