After four years of waiting, we finally have a new album from Bruno Mars! 24K Magic was released on November 18, and if you haven’t listened to it yet, I suggest giving it a shot.
His newest album combines the soulful love songs distinct to Bruno with retro-sounding beats that resemble “Uptown Funk,” a song he was featured on with Mark Ronson in 2015. The album flows from upbeat songs that mirror late ’80s and early ’90s dance songs to sweet love songs that sound like a throwback to the Backstreet Boys.
The first three tracks, “24K Magic,” “Chunky,” and “Perm,” are definite retro-themed songs that set the mood for the album. After listening to the first three songs, I was a concerned that this album was just going to be nine versions of “Uptown Funk.”
Even though the retro pop theme is catchy and popular, I always preferred Mars’ love ballad songs like “Grenade,” “If I Was Your Man,” and “Just the Way You Are.” Thankfully, Mars only spent three tracks creating the reminiscing theme and then went on to feature songs with more lyrical substance.
24K Magic ends with “Too Good to Say Goodbye,” which is a perfect finish to the album. Unlike the previous songs, this track has lyrics that capture a definite message about lost love. The entire album had a lot of energy, and “Too Good to Say Goodbye” provides a bittersweet end.
The production style models ’80s and ’90s R&B; the models serve as tributes to artists like Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and James Brown. Bruno Mars showcases his own take on reminiscing the ’80s and ’90s on every song on this album, and he does it well. His fascination with this retro sound was obvious in his previous albums, but until now, he didn’t seem committed to it.
In earlier songs like “Runaway Baby” and “Treasure,” the retro undertones are there, but he seems to overlay it with common 21st-century pop melodies. Until now, Mars had never made an entire album committed to throwback R&B, so when this sound was prevalent in only a couple of his songs, the retro theme was almost unnoticeable.
Even when “Uptown Funk” was released last year, the throwback was easily dismissed as something new and experimental for Mars, and not as a sound or theme he was attempting to capture.
With the release of 24K Magic, though, Mars boldly announces his own definition of pop and finally commits to the sound he’s been chasing his entire career.
