Bruno Mars’ ‘The Romantic’: All 9 Tracks Ranked
It’s been a protracted watch for Bruno Mars‘ new album The Romantic: 5 years since his An Evening With Silk Sonic team-up with Anderson .Paak and 10 years (!!) since his most up-to-date solo album 24k Magic. But this Friday (Feb. 27), Bruno is lastly again, with a nine-track effort designed to wrap Valentine’s Month with a lush assortment of affection songs to make his ’70s and ’80s (largely ’70s this time round) forebearers proud. (And simply in case anybody was skeptical Mars may nonetheless do it in 2026 — yeah, proper — the set arrives already with one minted Billboard Hot 100 smash within the No. 1-debuting “I Just Might.”)
More from Billboard
While previous Bruno Mars albums have labored his influences into extra clearly trendy sonic trappings, or regarded again on the lyrical tropes of bygone soul and pop artists again with a little bit of a wink, The Romantic could be his simplest throwback but — loving, full-throated tributes to Philly soul and quiet storm, with a little bit of Latin rock thrown in as properly. Some songs raise particular vibes from classics by beloved hitmakers like The O’Jays, Curtis Mayfield and Santana, whereas others simply internalize classes discovered from these artists for Mars’ personal submissions to their canon.
Just 9 new songs after 5 (or 10) years may not really feel like quite a bit — eight, in case you do not depend “I Just Might” — however Mars is intent on making them depend. See how Billboard ranks the tracks from the flop-proof pop famous person’s sure-to-be hit new album beneath.
9. “Nothing Left”
A uncommon breakup music on The Romantic — or no less than a “fire don’t burn the way it used to” music — “Nothing Left” is efficient sufficient, however a little bit nondescript by Mars’ requirements. The lyric is asking out both for a way more stripped-down association or for completely blown-out energy balladbombast, nevertheless it will get caught a little bit within the center on this penultimate album monitor.
8. “God Was Showing Off”
Some good strains — “Is ‘Heaven’ your name/ Or is it ‘Divine’?/ Don’t matter, girl, it’s gonna look good next to mine” might be better of the bunch — and a two-chord groove harking back to a dreamier “Soulful Strut” is rarely a foul concept. But “God Was Showing Off” may’ve most likely used a little bit extra funk to promote its cheesier lyrical absurdities — and it additionally may’ve stood to stretch a few of these a little bit farther within the first place — relatively than committing to a totally straight-faced candy soul association.
7. “Why You Wanna Fight”
to bit “Leave the Door Open” redux musically — proper right down to the xylophone that traces the string melody, like that Silk Sonic single deployed so expertly. But the guitar work helps give this one a bit extra of its personal distinctive character, fuzzy and piercing within the intro, after which moaning like Rose Royce’s “I’m Going Down” on the verses.
6. “Dance With Me”
The Romantic‘s closer ends things on a pleasant note, eschewing the ’70s soul meanings of most of the album and flashing back much further to Mars’ original Doo-Wops influences with its sweet harmonies, lilting strings and simply urgent lyrics. It’s nothing revelatory, but it’s a successful vocal showcase, and should leave listeners with the right feeling — both at the end of the album, and perhaps at the end of live dates on his upcoming stadium tour.
5. “Risk It All”
The opener to The Romantic starts off with near-mariachi trumpet and balladic strings, with Bruno Mars almost sounding like Marc Anthony as he croons over lightly brushed drums and gently plucked acoustics: “I would run through a fire/ Just to be by your side.” It’s Mars’ most tender love song yet — also his most dramatic opener since Unorthodox Jukebox‘s “Young Girls” — and you could definitely see it becoming a couples-cam live highlight.
4. “On My Soul”
Can Bruno Mars interest you in his spin on Curtis Mayfield’s “Move on Up”? Of course he can: Few, if any soul-pop songs in history have had superior vibes, and Mars is expert tributist enough that he nails the details — the racing drums and backing bongos, the tension-building guitars and righteous horns — without being so heavy-handed with it that you feel like you’re listening to a not-so-thinly-disguised cover. And the breakdown section, where he and his band trade wordless exhortations, take things to the next level just when you hope they would.
3. “Something Serious”
Mixing together a blend of slithering grooves from a pair of ’70s Latin rock classics — War’s “Low Rider” and Santana’s cowl of Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va” — Mars hits on a brand new pressure of throwback for him on “Something Serious,” and a very good and enjoyable one. He appears like he is having an absolute blast belting “You should be my boo thing/ I should be your mans!” over the cowbell and clipped horns. Live, you could possibly undoubtedly see them stretching the breakdown part out to a number of minutes and a number of solos, whipping the gang right into a frenzy within the course of.
2. “I Just Might”
While Mars’ return solo single may’ve underwhelmed some hoping for a model new course for the pop famous person, a month or so on we will all correctly acknowledge that what “I Just Might” lacks in surprises, it greater than makes up for in satisfaction. Coming because the third monitor on The Romanticit sounds just like the album actually hitting its stride — and simply from the intro, you are feeling such as you’ve been dancing to its guitar chops and sashaying hi-hats at weddings already in your whole life.
1. “Cha Cha Cha”
“Got my lemon pepper steppers on, ooh girl, you’re in trouble tonight,” Mars and his Hooligans backing band warn over tapping drums and sweetly uneasy strings on “Cha Cha Cha.” The musical reference level right here is clearly the lushly ominous Philly soul of The O’Jays’ (*9*) — proper right down to the dramatic pause and full-band grunt that leads into the refrain — however after all the vibe right here is not almost as paranoid as that basic of soul skepticism, as an alternative utilizing a well-plotted Youth lift to seize sweaty dancefloor rapture, earlier than the groove takes flight into pure disco ecstasy within the last minute. Nobody can thread all of this collectively fairly like Bruno Mars.
Best of Billboard
Sign up for Billboard’s Newsletter. For the newest information, observe us on Facebook, Twitterand instagram.
