No one could accuse Bruno Mars of being profligate. Nearly a decade after his last short and sweet solo album, 2017’s R&B party-starter ’24K Magic’, he’s back with… another short and sweet solo album. With nine tracks rattling by in just 31 minutes, ‘The Romantic’ is even more concise than its predecessor.
Mars is such a quietly confident superstar that he sees no need to boost its streams by including the mega-collabs that have kept him ubiquitous since 2024: his lovely Lady Gaga duet ‘Die With A Smile’ and rambunctious Rosé team-up ‘Apt.’ Instead, ‘The Romantic’ is a laser-focused collection that positions him as a silver-tongued loverman who’s slightly more mature than in the past. Aside from funky lead single ‘I Just Might’, and the slinky floor-filler ‘Cha Cha Cha’, this album is more wedding reception than wedding disco.
Behind his Vegas-honed showmanship, Mars remains a bit of an enigma, so his soulful bops rarely come with soul-baring lyrics. Instead, he prefers to dust off old love song clichés, then redeem them with his terrific, raspy voice. “Say you want the moon, watch me learn to fly, ain’t no mountain you could point to I wouldn’t climb,” he sings on ‘Risk It All’. At times, his approach is a little too on-the-nose: ‘Dance With Me’ is a song about slow-dancing that’s designed to be slow-danced to.
Co-produced by Mars with D’Mile, with whom he previously worked on 2021’s full-length Anderson .Paak collaboration ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’, ‘The Romantic’ sounds fantastic. There are bright blasts of brass, lots of crisp conga rhythms and some clever vocal arrangements. When Mars’ rasp is flanked by Motown-style “yeah-yeah-yeah“s on ‘Something Serious’, the effect is irresistible. In places, he expands his funky throwback sound with retro Latin influences: ‘Risk It All’ begins with mariachi-style horns, while ‘Something Serious’ swings like vintage Santana. But lush soulful ballads like ‘God Was Showing Off’ and ‘Why You Wanna Fight?’ give the album its soft centre.
Naturally, there are moments when Mars indulges his fondness for musical gouda, but at this point, it’s part of his brand. This total pro knows that a couple of these shimmering earworms could become modern standards like ‘Just The Way You Are’ and ‘When I Was Your Man’ with enough airplay and playlist spots. The big, sweeping ballad ‘Nothing Left’ is destined to defeat karaoke singers on every continent. With ‘The Romantic’, pop’s economical king of ear candy has surely extended his reign.
Details
Release date: February 27, 2026
Record label: Atlantic Records
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