Released: February 27, 2026
Genre: Pop, Disco-Funk
Run Time: 31 minutes
American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars makes his first return since the critically acclaimed An Evening with Silk Sonic in 2021 – a collaboration with Anderson .Paak. And it’s been nine years since his last solo effort 24K Magic in 2016.
Over his solo career, Bruno Mars has toyed with elements of disco and funk, however it was fully realised with the Silk Sonic record and I think he has now started to show his comfort in being able to pull off a full record of this sound. But does that mean it was worth the wait?
Bruno Mars is undoubtedly an experienced songwriter equipped with some of the most unique and powerful vocals in the industry today, however I feel even since 24K Magic he has figured out the tried-and-true formula for a hit song in the pop music landscape. With surface level songwriting and a lack of those powerful vocals, his aren’t giving anything exciting or groundbreaking. Not to say he isn’t making good songs. The lead single I Just Might is a bland and simple RnB Funk blend but it’s the easy accessibility to his music that is letting him climb the charts and invade your local shopping outlet with ease. What The Romantic is doing that’s different to his previous works is the inclusion of Latin-inspired production on some of the tracklist with the help of a Mariachi band. However this at times falls short, feeling like a basic copy and paste instead of using these sounds in any interesting way. After nearly a decade, Bruno Mars has used this album to do nothing pioneering and is happy to stick to the hit-making formula. In saying that though, he does know how to make some fun and groovy songs, from the lead single to On My Soul and Something Serious. He takes it a step back and gives the audience something slower and melodramatic, but unfortunately these songs seem a bit of a ‘nothing burger’ of filler lover clichés.
So was it worth the wait? To a degree. I won’t ever complain about new Bruno Mars songs but I just hope he goes back to making those powerful ballads from his first two records (and not leave us hanging for nearly 10 years).
6/10
