Not the last romantic: Bruno Mars is back with an album about love

To return after a ten—year hiatus and reinvent your own sound is the task set by Bruno Mars, who presented the first LP since 2016. The title of the record — The Romantic — accurately conveys her mood.: This is a collection of songs about carefree love, sustained in southern rhythms and radiating retro charm. Bossa Nova, funk, r'n'b, pop jazz — Bruno mixes styles into an intoxicating cocktail and creates the atmosphere of a beach party. Izvestia enjoyed the musical treat.

He promised and returned

One of the most popular questions on Google about Bruno Mars is: where did he go? Indeed, the singer, who had billions of video views, top of the charts, awards from all over the world and other attributes of star status, at some point stopped releasing solo albums. Yes, over the years he has had vivid collaborations — for example, singles with Lady Gaga and Cardi B or a joint LP with rapper Anderson.Paak, moreover, it was positioned as a new duo: Silk Sonic. But the fans, of course, hoped for the return of the artist in his original role. And finally, it took place.

Moreover, it cannot be said that the comeback was staged with due pathos. It was preceded by only one single, I Just Might, and there were no high—profile PR campaigns, scandals, or similar hype. And the record itself does not look like the fruit of ten years of work. There are only nine tracks, about half an hour of total sound. In addition, not a single fit — although, it would seem, none of the stars can do without it now. But this modesty, deliberate frivolity of approach is the very essence of the new work.

The lightness of being

The very first track of Risk It All immerses the listener in the romantic sound of bossa nova. With his sweet, surprisingly high tenor (perhaps only The Weeknd can compete with Bruno Mars in high-register vocal capabilities), the artist sings soulfully: "Say you want the moon, / And watch me learn to fly; / There is no mountain you could point to, / And I would he didn't climb it..." In general, he promises to get a star from the sky, go through fire and water for the sake of his beloved.

And then there will be cha-cha-cha, soul, rumba, pop-jazz numbers, as if they came from Las Vegas in the 1980s, and all this with lyrics one more romantic than the other. At the same time, Bruno refrains from ballads as such, classic melancholic "slowies". The atmosphere of this album is more suitable for carefree summer parties on some southern beach (when the height of the fun is over and the noisy companies are divided into couples), rather than for a winter date or autumn heart-to-heart conversations.

Yes, this, of course, is not about love, but about hobbies. And even when towards the end of the disc there are hints of quarrels and breakups in the lyrics, it's all filled with some amazing lightness. And the cd ends with the song Dance With Me, where Bruno calls for: "Dance with me, darling / just one more time; / Take my hand and we'll dance slowly all night; / Girl, you know, I hope / that when the music ends, / you and I will fall in love again and again."

In an era when it is so fashionable to dump their intimate dramas on the viewer (some stars, such as Taylor Swift, make one album after another on this), and if not dramas, then political views and indignation about the imperfection of the world, Bruno Mars records a record where there are no references — at least explicit ones — to the personal. experience, as well as attempts to influence the listener and declare their position. Only the candy-bouquet lightness of being. So why be surprised at the conciseness and lack of any fanfare in connection with the release of the record. Such releases cannot last an hour and a half, convincing with their whole being (as well as conceptual covers and expensive music videos) what an important event this is.

No drama

And yet — without any pretensions — The Romantic album is, of course, an event. If only because, returning after a long silence, Bruno not only entered the same river twice, but also reinvented his style. Instead of trendy electronics, 24K Magic is dominated by acoustic sound with a light retro flair and Caribbean rhythms. And what remains unchanged is eclecticism, a combination of a wide variety of elements — signs and "ghosts" of various genres and eras.

For example, a falsetto motif appears in one of the compositions, reminiscent of either Michael Jackson's signature technique (with which Bruno Mars is often compared), or the unforgettable Woo-hoo from Blur's Song 2. And the already mentioned Risk It All causes a feeling of deja vu from the very first sounds — it seems that you have already heard this melody somewhere. And you'll be happy to listen again.

Is it secondary or postmodern? Neither one nor the other. The task here is most likely not to quote and intellectual games with the listener, but to create a sweet feeling of something familiar, comfortable, understandable. Even in this, Bruno goes against the trends, not trying to look like an innovator and position his art as something more than just a delight to the ears.

Although it seems that this approach says more about the modern world than other rock or rap manifestos. "There are enough dramas without that," Bruno Mars seems to tell us, and with his music he creates a paradise island where you can forget about all the hardships. Even if it's only for half an hour.