The hiatus is officially over. Singer-songwriter and record producer Bruno Mars is back with a brand new solo studio album, titled “The Romantic,” coming 10 years after his last studio project, “24K Magic.” The most baffling part about this drop is the fact that this is only his fourth solo studio album in his career.
Mars has hyped the project since January of this year, announcing on social media that he had finished his latest studio album, which he had been working on since 2023.
On Feb. 8, the 40-year-old R&B singer announced a North American and European tour called “The Romantic Tour” featuring many other artists and collaborators, including recent collaborator Anderson .Paak, Grammy winner Leon Thomas and singer-songwriter Victoria Monet.
His most recent outing was a collab project with the singer-songwriter from California, Anderson .Paak, in which they formed their own group called Silk Sonic. The album, titled “An Evening With Silk Sonic,” was released in Nov. 2021 and went platinum, selling over 1 million copies in the United States alone.
Before the album rollout, throughout 2024 and going into 2025, Bruno Mars has collaborated with many other artists on singles. One of the biggest singles of 2024 was “Die With A Smile,” a song Mars did with pop-singer and fashion icon Lady Gaga.
Another huge single he released was “APT” in 2024. A song he did with K-Pop singer and member of K-Pop group Blackpink, Rose. This song was arguably bigger than the Gaga collab, as it was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards.
In January, Mars released a lead single for the project called “I Just Might,” which included a music video to go along with the release. Fans loved the newest song, which sounded reminiscent of many of Bruno Mars’s older songs. As per usual, the song was a success, particularly on the radio.
Bruno Mars is known for making short but sweet albums throughout his career. The largest number of tracks on a Mars album was on his first outing, “Doo Wops and Hooligans,” which topped out at 12 tracks. However, every album of his has received critical and financial acclaim, proving that quality in music can outweigh quantity.
Now for the album itself. It is short, with only nine brand new songs. However, each track is different stylistically. The uniqueness might be the best aspect of “The Romantic”, as each song stands out in sound from the rest.
The first song on “The Romantics,” “Risk It All” is a Latin-inspired ballad, a style Bruno Mars has not taken on before. It is an outstanding intro to the album, which dives the listener right into its messages, themes and what Bruno wants to sing about.
Similarly, the second track “Cha Cha Cha” also has a similar style. An interesting fact is that the chorus for this song samples another song titled “Slow Motion” by New-Orleans rapper Juvenile.
Other highlights on “The Romantic” include the fourth track “God Was Showing Off.” This song is very soulful, sounding like an unreleased track off the Silk Sonic collaboration mentioned before. “On My Soul” is another great, energetic soul song that harkens back to his 24K Magic days.
Finally, this rollercoaster of an album concludes with a song titled “Dance With Me,” which is a slow ballad that people might use at their weddings in the near future.
This album does an excellent job of blending multiple musical styles to create beautiful, loving music. Bruno Mars is also an excellent songwriter who knows how to create fun tracks that everybody can enjoy.
While some may argue that “The Romantic” was not worth the wait, the majority would likely believe the opposite. Bruno Mars continues to show how, even at age 40, he can create timeless, everlasting music.
