Recently, the album “The Romantic” was released–bringing us back to the 2010s in the best way possible. And no, this album was not released by Justin Bieber. It was released by Bruno Mars–a classic musician and singer who most people have heard of. With hits like “Locked Out Of Heaven,” “Runaway Baby” and “Die With a Smile,” his music is probably some of the most popular in the world. This album is Mars’ first solo album since the release of “24K Magic” back in 2016, and honestly, it was worth the wait.
The album starts off with the song “Risk It All,” a slower and more romantic song with mainly acoustic guitar for the backing track, eventually adding some bongos and violins that take the song up another level. When I first listened to this album, I was confused as to why it started off with a slow song, but when all the instruments came together, matched with the amazing vocals, I wasn’t mad.
Things pick up a little bit with the next song, “Cha Cha Cha.” The instrumentals pick up the vibes from the last song and speed it up a pinch. Still romantic, still able to be danced along to and still awesome. But even with this, I was wondering where the super-fast paced songs I knew Mars to have were. This was a thought I held onto for a lot of the album.
There is no need to explain the awesomeness of this next song, “I Just Might.” About 225 million streams on Spotify, 124 million on YouTube Music and a glorious Dr. Doofenshmirtz cover made by the voice actor himself is all the explanation it needs. If there’s anything I learned from this album, it’s that Bruno Mars loves to dance. This song especially embodies that, especially with the line “What good is beauty if your booty can’t find a beat?” This is one of the best songs on this album for the absolute groove it provides, no matter how many times you listen to it.
Following such perfection is the song “God Was Showing Off,” another slower song with a romantic vibe that keeps up Mars’ amazing vocals. The instruments in the back are really good too, with some trumpets and drums slowing down the groove you felt from the song before and hitting the brakes a little bit. This is another one of my favorites on the album because it’s still a bop.
Then there’s “Why You Wanna Fight?” which slows down even more. I’d say this is one of the most romantic songs on the album, with the combination of a much slower tempo and lyrics, but it’s still good. It’s like an intermission being the song directly in the middle of the nine-song album, which is also one of the best ways to describe it as a whole.
But then the tempo gets thrown into the sky with the next song, “On My Soul.” It speeds up while still keeping the album’s funky theme. And the vocals? Some of the best on the album. If I were a judge on America’s Got Talent and a contestant went on stage and performed this song, I’d be hitting the golden buzzer. It’s the groove and fast-paced song I’ve been waiting for, and it’s my favorite off the album.
The slight pick-up in pace stays with “Something Serious” right after, with even better vocals from Mars. The beat is really groovy, something Kevin Bacon could dance his heart out to in “Footloose” if he were a salsa dancer instead of a gymnast. Heck, he probably could dance around a train station to this. It really keeps up the vibes from the few songs before it started up, and I was glad there was finally a mix of fast and slow.
Afterwards, the album calms down with “Nothing Left,” the best slow song of the album. It reminds me of a funkier version of “When I Was Your Man” in regards to the amount of passion you can hear through the vocals, plus the instrumental break where there’s a guitar solo and some amazing drum fills. And again, the vocals are amazing. It’s a perfect mix of the slower songs from the beginning of the album and the faster ones just before this song.
And then we end with “Dance With Me,” another piece of evidence that Bruno Mars really does love to dance. It’s perfect to slow dance to; I could imagine hearing this playing at prom after hearing “Sorry For Party Rocking” blast through the gymnasium to calm down the rowdy senior class and bring out the couples who’ve been sitting out on the bleachers. I believe somebody could find true love in this song, and it’s the perfect way to end the album.
This album is not full of the crisp or mellow pop tracks you’d expect after listening to “Unorthodox Jukebox” or “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” but damn is it good. Recently, I listened to “An Evening With Silk Sonic,” which was an album released in 2021 that Bruno Mars made in collaboration with Anderson.Paak. It had some songs that this album reminded me of, like “Leave The Door Open” and “After Last Night (with Thundercat & Bootsy Collins),” and is another album that has a good mix of groove, slow and bop. This album is more on the calmer side, but it’s definitely worth a listen if you’re in need of study music or you’re having a darty in need of some calmer tunes.
Hayley Doda can be contacted at
hayley@kscequinox.com
