Bruno Mars’ ‘The Romantic’ Is a Retro-Soul Crowd-Pleaser
📖 Full Retelling
On his first solo album in a decade, the superstar nods to Seventies R&B and his Latin roots, while making the case that his precision-tuned throwback-pop vision is endearing in any moment
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Album Review Bruno Mars’ ‘The Romantic’ Is a Retro-Soul Crowd-Pleaser On his first solo album in a decade, the superstar nods to Seventies R&B and his Latin roots, while making the case that his precision-tuned throwback-pop vision is endearing in any moment By Jon Dolan Jon Dolan View all posts by Jon Dolan March 2, 2026 If giving the people what they want is a crime, you’re going to have to throw Bruno Mars in populism jail. Music is full of romantics, but only Bruno is so on-the-nose about his heart-on-sleeve intentions — and his ace showman’s ability to pull them off — that he’d actually call his record The Romantic . His new LP is his first new music since 2021’s An Evening With Silk Sonic , the throwback R&B duo with Anderson .Paak, and it’s his first as a solo act since 2016’s massive 24K Magic . A lot has happened in the decade since that album gifted us with hits like “That’s What I Like” and “Versace on the Floor,” and on The Romantic , Bruno is here to argue that his precision-tuned retro-pop vision is timeless and endearing in any moment. Mars has been on a roll lately thanks to chart-topping mega smashes “ APT ” with Rosé and “Die With a Smile” with Lady Gaga . Like clockwork, “ I Just Might ,” the lead single off The Romantic , went Number One, too. It’s dance-the-night-away bubblegum fun, steeped in the Seventies disco classics of KC & the Sunshine Band and Hot Chocolate. Bruno poses the vexing metaphysical conundrum, “What good is beauty if your booty can’t find the beat?” It’s about as philosophical as this man gets, and in the often overly pretentious climate of pop music these days, that’s a welcome intellectual space for him to claim. That roller-boogie banger turns out to be the lone sugar-rush moment on the album. True to its title, most of The Romantic finds Bruno crooning big, flower-bearing ballads – “I would run through a fire just to be by your side,” he entreats on “Risk It All,” a lush acoustic valentine influenced by Cuban bolero music....
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