Release Date: 27 February 2026
Song Count: 9
Duration: 31 minutes, 34 seconds
Rating: 6.8/10
Description:
It seems like the 27th of last month has also been a bit of a blockbuster day for music, and I simply have not been as observant this time. Curious.
With that, let us sink into this new release from a few days ago - as of writing - of who just may be one of the biggest names in the world of contemporary music out there - Bruno Mars, originally Peter Gene Hernandez, an American singer with countless hits and songs with awards and chart placements under his belt. Now, there is a light-hearted joke out there that his main motivation behind making and releasing music sort of more sporadically compared to many artists of his size is to simply earn enough money to fund his gambling habits, and though I am not one to often buy into rumours involving celebrities, if this was to be the case, then things certainly must not be looking up for him financially at the minute if he felt the need to drop an entire album, and the first non-collaboration one he has released in ten years for that matter.
As for his newest record that has already begun to break every song popularity chart under the sun, The Romantic is an album that infuses the standard pop elements well established by his past repertoire with a soul and funk twist to create a contemporary version of a so-called smooth soul (or soft soul) sound, as a means to call back to the 70's, since widely appealing retro-fusions have been a fundamental part of Bruno Mars' music for practically his entire career at this rate. In that regard, the nine tracks contained within the album are more than successful at achieving their aim of sounding like a collection of polished yet still faithfully crafted throwbacks filled to the brim with levity, grooves and a particular effect of musical charm that Mars seems to sprinkle into almost every song of his by nature. Brass instruments blare through as guitars, both acoustic and electric, strings and different sorts of percussioning round out the rest of the instrumental composition, staying purposefully flexible to suit to any sort of mood and tempo the songs require of them, and it is all topped off by the signature vocals that lead through the various types of love songs with all their strength, yet making it sound practically effortless simultaneously.
Be it a high-energy track and a "bop" taking the show by storm like "On My Soul" or the album's lead single "I Just Might", or a more slow-tempo, self-indulgent breather like "Dance With Me", The Romantic offers a variety of songs that may differ wildly in mood and sound colour, but all contain the same winning formula to make it big out there, which is precisely where its course seems to be headed at the moment with its early-acquired success in the charts. It is important to note, however, that whilst every track operates in a similar way in terms of subtle elements to make them sound better and more memorable, not all of them quite make it, as especially some of the slower songs tend to stagger and fall just shy of landing their impact - though this spans across multiple tracks with differing tempos. Overall, though a showcase of Bruno Mars' best musical aspects at its multiple peaks, the album as a whole is a noticeable size below that standard set by its highlight moments, and is more likely to draw attention almost exclusively from said highlights rather than as a whole piece on its own.
Not a particularly bad one to hear in every radio station and every public place that plays music for the next year or five, though. Mars himself has released much worse contents recently in that regard.