BRUNO MARS DROPS FIRST SOLO ALBUM IN A DECADE
On my soul, I would risk it all for you to dance with me, because god was showing off when he made you, girl.
Bruno, Bruno, Bruno… Why? All it took was financial incentives to get out of debt to produce the album of the year? If that’s the case, please keep gambling your money away, and use the royalties from your albums to keep gambling, letting the cycle repeat itself.
It has been since 2016 that Bruno Mars released his solo album, 24K Magic, and finally, we have received yet another masterpiece. Released on Feb. 27, The Romantic has blown any expectations, an album so good that maybe in due time it will be considered his best work of art.
If I were someone who has yet to give this album a listen, I would highly recommend sitting yourself down in a dimly lit room during the evening, and either inviting your significant other over or reminiscing on one you once had.
The album has a retro-soul, R&B, bossa nova, funk influences, with some songs sounding a cheeky bit like his old hits.
The album took heavy influence from 70’s soul and Latin pop, with guitar licks that sound to your ear like birria tacos taste to your tongue. With nine-tracks, the 32-minute listen is sure to seduce you even in your worst moods.
It can be speculated that Bruno may have produced this masterpiece as a method to pay off his alleged $50-60 million in gambling debt with MGM Casino. Although MGM once said that this was the case, they have now reversed course and claim that the story is false. It would make sense considering Bruno’s estimated net worth of $175 million, and $90 million annual revenue from his residency.
But the singer has often joked about his journey to becoming debt-free, where on his Instagram, a post of him in concert was captioned “Almost out of debt BehhhhhBehhhhh!!! Preciate You ROSAAAAYYYYYY!!!!.” Referring to the success of ROSÉ and Bruno’s hit song ATP.
Posting yet another Instagram story after becoming the first artist to reach 150 million monthly listeners in Spotify history, stating “KEEP STREAMING! I’ll be out of debt in no time.” A true joker, please keep gambling Bruno, you’ve earned it.
Bruno said that the album is dedicated to his two timeless pleasures, dancing and romance. Bruno had the help of a familiar crew working on this album, including the co-writers and producers Brody Brown, Philip Lawrence, James Fauntleroy, and D’Mile.
Many of the songs have a similar feeling to hit songs from the past, but would be hard to pinpoint. Thankfully, Bruno did not shy away from telling us his inspirations. In Cha Cha Cha, he pulls a disco breakdown from Juvenile’s 2003 Slow Motion. Additionally, Mars pulled music from Curtis Mayfield’s grooves in On My Soul, and Leo Sayer’s hit You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.
My personal top three favourites from the album in order, are God Was Showing Off, Risk It All, and Dance With Me. They remind me of the old Bruno Mars, who sang with so much passion and love. The guitar and trumpets in Risk It All have so much soul, but the introductions to the first two songs are so smooth and bright that Bruno had me blushing.
Overall, it would be unfair to say this album is anything but spectacular, and is debatably his second-best album behind Unorthodox Jukebox, which has hit songs like When I Was Your Man, Treasure, and Locked Out of Heaven. So, my ranking for this album is a 10/10, and if you haven’t given it a listen yet, get to it.
