Don’t let the track list fool you. There may be nine different songs with nine different titles, but Bruno Mars functionally made the same song for 31 minutes in his latest endeavor, “The Romantic.”
Released on Feb. 27, this is the pop hitmaker’s first full-length solo project in almost 10 years, and his first full-length album in five after the release of “An Evening with Silk Sonic,” his collaboration with Anderson .Paak, the stage name of rapper and singer-songwriter Brandon Anderson.
The opener “Risk It All” lays down the template for most of the songs on here, with its Latin soul-infused production and Mars’ admittedly beautiful, passionate singing about romance. Mars is well-known for his retro sound and his faithful genre pastiches; this album may well be his love letter to Latin music and soul.
“Risk It All” is also a great companion to Mars’ 2010 hit “Grenade” lyrically. Instead of jumping in front of a train, he’d rather learn how to fly. Character development! The music video and dreamy production also add to Mars’ attempt to join wedding playlists for the next decade.
The second song “Cha Cha Cha” starts with some lovely string swells, before the trumpets kick in and Mars enters the ring. It’s more of the same from Mars, but this time he’s looking for someone to “Cha Cha Cha” with him on the dance floor.
Lead single “I Just Might” is one of the most upbeat songs on here. Little moments like the guitar lick or the trumpets on the chorus add to my overall appreciation of this song and of Mars’ company’s technical prowess. Nevertheless, this feels like the kind of song Mars did when he first got big over 15 years ago — a good, technical, authentic genre pastiche a la “Treasure” — and the sheer unoriginality is starting to rear its head.
After the big single you have “God Was Showing Off.” Here, Mars bombastically preaches his love to his partner with a bevy of references to religion and God. It’s a standout track for the trumpet section right here, who really kick into final gear on the chorus when Mars exclaims his belief that “God was showin’ off while making you.”
Despite the title, “Why You Wanna Fight?” is less about fighting and more about Mars making up with his partner. It also overstays its welcome as one of the longer tracks on this album, with little to no justification for its four-minute run time apart from Mars flexing his vocal chops and a cool guitar solo at the start.
On my soul, the track “On My Soul” has the best vocal performance on this album by Mars; his raspy tenor really shines through during the chorus. It’s also a lot more upbeat than the previous ditties, making for a nice change of pace before we have to slog through the final third.
“Something Serious” stands out for its percussion-heavy production — shoutout Carlin White — and for the use of cowbells, which makes any song 10 times better through its inclusion. In this case, the cowbells and sick drum solo on the bridge upgrade this song from terrible to tolerable.
The last two tracks are probably some of the most unique on this album; for one, they’re not soul tracks, but R&B. On “Nothing Left,” Mars sings rather pensively, instead of constantly flirting with the song’s subject as he did inprevious tracks, as he talks about his love for a woman who doesn’t reciprocates his feelings.
Mars closes the album with the ballad “Dance With Me.” Here, the focus is on his magnetic singing voice, as he pulls out all the stops to display his three-octave vocal range. The first half also includes a touch of a twinkling indie-rock guitar riff to complement Mars’ vocal gymnastics. Once wedding DJs get bored of playing “Risk It All,” they may just turn over the disc and put this on repeat instead.
“The Romantic” certainly shows off Mars’ charming side and gives us another reminder of the man’s brilliant vocal talents and musicianship. Regardless, the songwriting may be some of the weakest on display, especially after how well-received that whole Silk Sonic phase was. Before the last two tracks provided a nice respite, the whole middle section from “God Was Showing Off” to “Something Serious” was a slog to get through. Just listen to the lead single to hear the whole album.