In pop music, ten years is a lifetime. Such is the staying power of Bruno Mars, though, that it feels like he never left… and that his return was greeted with an instant number one hit.
To be fair, Mars has been busy guesting on top hits (recently, “Die With A Smile” and “APT”), as well as his Vegas residency and his Silk Sonic collaboration a couple years back. But he abandoned his successful solo recording career for a decade to pursue these other things, which is unusual for pop stars.
His return on The Romantic, though, is not an epic comeback or consolidation of strengths. It’s a quick 30-minute, nine-song listen that seems designed to get Mars back in the public eye as a solo performer and give him some fuel for his 2026 tour.
To be sure, the album sounds great; some care obviously went into making it, and Mars is too good to release haphazard, sloppy music. The time off also allowed him to grow up a little; now at 40, he is no longer dropping clunky sex metaphors (the carrot, the rocket) or references to Versace and shallow women. He has instead leaned into the “Grenade”/ “If I Was Your Man” persona—the romantic—across these nine tracks.
But instead of looking forward, Mars continues to look back at classic sounds for inspiration. Most younger fans likely won’t have heard the songs that inspired the songwriting here, but older fans will hear very direct 70’s cribs from the Jackson 5, O’Jays (“Backstabber”), Leo Sayer and Santana. Regarding the latter, as good as “Something Serious” is, it’s hard not to start singing “Oye Como Va” or “Evil Ways” as soon as the Latin drums start playing. Latin influences are all over this album, from the percussion work to the horns on several of the tracks.
The big hit off the album is “I Just Might,” which is bit peppier and more dance-ready than the bulk of this album, and an efficient and fun single in vein of Mars’ best work. No notes. “Something Serious” is also great, an uptempo tune that hopefully gets some airplay, and “On My Soul” also grows with repeated listens and some well-placed “woo-hoos” in the bridge that reminded me of Coldplay’s “Adventure Of A Lifetime,” but better.
Mind you, these are all love songs, and that’s about the extent of what the lyrics consider. The bulk of the album (before those aforementioned songs) consists of slower ballads, from “Why You Wanna Fight” and “God Was Showing Off” to “Risk It All” and “Dance With Me,” which get repetitive after a while. The best of the ballads is the go-for-broke “Nothing Left,” punctuating the emotion with a guitar solo, and the only ballad with true staying power. “Cha Cha Cha” seems like a missed opportunity, leaning into easy-listening territory; it sounds good, and it should work, but it just doesn’t land with any force.
So we end with the usual ratio on a Bruno Mars album: a couple of uptempo hits, a fair amount of ballads, a mashup of styles, and a polished, professional sheen that is never not enjoyable, but also doesn’t stray out of “love song” territory. Also missing is Mars’ sense of humor, which I suppose is inevitable as he hit middle age, but still. It’s hard to get excited about an album like this, but if you listen to it on a date night or put your favorite tracks on a Best of Bruno playlist, the best of it sounds just fine.