Nearly a decade after “24K Magic,” Bruno Mars has returned with his fourth solo album. But calling it a comeback would miss the point. “The Romantic” is less a return and more the culmination of a long project Mars has built carefully through collaborations, residencies and an intentional sense of nostalgic style.
To understand “The Romantic,” you have to understand the years after his last solo album, “24K Magic.” After releasing the Grammy Award-winning LP, Mars spent years quietly laying groundwork rather than rushing back into solo territory. That meant collaborating with high-profile artists, such as making “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga, and opening a Las Vegas residency called “An Evening with Silk Sonic” alongside Anderson .Paak.
However, Silk Sonic wasn’t just a side project. With the flamboyant and legendary bassist Bootsy Collins overseeing their album, Mars and Anderson were able to build full “characters” (wearing the leisure suits, the bell-bottoms, the wide collars, vintage luxury) all in service of immersing audiences to the “imperial era” of Black pop music. Think about Early Motown. Or Parliament-Funkadelic. Or Stevie Wonder. Or Earth, Wind & Fire. All the lush harmonies, wah-wah guitars and groovy basslines.
Now, about four and a half years later, Silk Sonic, Anderson .Paak and Bootsy Collins have hung up their bell bottoms. However, Mars’ leisure outfits are still on, and he is more committed than ever to building upon his love for the 70s through “The Romantic.”
Through “The Romantic,” Mars taps into his Latin side and infuses the sounds, instruments and visuals of Latin music to his established “Silk Sonic” world.
“My father, who is a Puerto Rican percussionist from Brooklyn, New York, who’s inspired me my whole life, taught me how to play. And the moment I started playing congas on these demos and incorporating Latin rhythms into the songwriting, it kind of lit a fire into all of us in the studio and brought an element that felt exciting,” Mars said on Romantic Radio.
That fire shows up immediately, as the opening track “Risk It All” sets the tone with a romantic bolero groove backed by a mariachi ensemble (Los Angeles-based Mariachi Los Criollos De Guadalajara) with congas played by Daniel Rodriguez.
Mars co-directed the music video with videographer Daniel Ramos (marking their 5th straight collaborative music video), and Mars once again wears a leisure suit but adds a Virgen de Guadalupe chain in a scene rooted in Mexican and Chicano culture.
The second track “Cha Cha Cha” keeps the congas going, nodding to Cuban dance traditions by mixing them with cowbell chimes, strings and horns, while slipping in a disco salsa interpolation of Juvenile’s “Slow Motion.” Later, “Something Serious” reaches back to the funky cha-cha-chá genre and references Chicano music (Santana) with echoes of “Oye Como Va.”
The Latin influence is without a doubt the freshest element of “The Romantic,” but Mars doesn’t abandon everything he’s already built, but rather builds off of his love for 70s R&B . “I Just Might,” the first single, released in January, channels the spirit of Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” into a feel-good, hand-clap dance track. “God Was Showing Off” and “Why You Wanna Fight” settle back into Philly Soul and old school R&B territory. “On My Soul” sounds like Mars doing his best Curtis Mayfield impression in all the best ways.
The album closes with “Nothing Left” and “Dance With Me,” made with guitars, slowed-down romance, and is a warm landing after nine tracks. Across all of it, Mars is working with his hooligans and a familiar crew of producers and writers: D’Mile, Brody Brown, Philip Lawrence and James Fauntleroy. Together, they contribute to nine polished tracks that run old school soul and Latin sounds as a through line.
The storytelling in “The Romantic” extends beyond the songs themselves. The album art, a hand-drawn, black and white portrait of Mars wearing a bandana (reminiscent of pioneering musician Jimi Hendrix) framed by roses and chains with handwritten script subtly reminds of Chicano rock and is able to visually tell a story of intimacy and old school immediately. Mars and his team have created an experience and world for each album, where not only the music, but the outfits, the visuals and the promotional events all work cohesively to tell a story.
Bruno Mars hasn’t released a solo album in nearly a decade, and yet “The Romantic” arrives feeling like another spectacle. Part of that is his constant pop culture relevance from collaborations and the icon status achieved from his career. But what makes “The Romantic” special is how he created a foundation over years to make the album. When the album dropped, audiences weren’t starting from scratch. For years, Mars had been building a distinct aesthetic, creating with familiar faces and adding to an archive of inspiration and songs.
“The Romantic” is a Bruno Mars love letter to the analog era, where he marinates his old school soul and funk with the sultry sounds of bossa nova and new jack swing, while garnishing Latin sounds across the album. As a culmination of years and years of Mars’ exploration and homages to the 70s, “The Romantic” is a project that displays Bruno Mars’ innate storytelling ability by immersing us through an experience intentionally made with music, persona and visuals.