2026 is the return of the romance. And the leader is the superstar and hitmaker Bruno Mars. Our times are in need of some old-school romance, it’s been gone for too long.

“The Romantic” , Bruno’s 4th solo album, just got released. No collaborations, no features, just Bruno Mars and his artistry. The album contains only 9 songs (we’re almost used to that number of tunes on his albums). With the leading song “I Just Might” that went to No.1 on Billboard Hot 100 and was a great opener for new year’s releases, Bruno on “The Romantic” is on his more mature phase. All 9 songs are perfectly crafted with romantic lyrics, great music breaks and leads and a strong voice like no other.

You can listen to many influences on this album, I could recognize some of those like Santana, Curtis Mayfield, War, Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross. It’s an album that was artistically made with the sounds of 70s, some flamenco roots while lots of percussions and brass sections are included. There’s a ballad that reminded me of the Grease soundtrack, refering to “Dance With Me” that closes the album. That is mainly 60s roots of the classic loving ballads! The great thing is the mixing and mastering of the sound of the album. No electronic music in included here and that is maybe one of the most interesting aspects of this release.

With no comparisons on the above, “The Romantic” is a perfect album for loving and many more feelings that are involved in a relationship, the beggining of it till the end. The opener “Risk It All” (which is his second single, soon to be No.1) is a love ballad in full expression. Apart from the ballads there are songs to dance romantically to, like “Something Serious”, “Cha Cha Cha” and the leader tune “I Just Might”.

Bruno at his best, releases an album like no other in the industry at the moment, bringing a whole vibe to 2026. Listen to it below (and I bet you’ll play it on repeat like I did this morning and probably the whole year ahead).

His new single “Risk It All” was just uploaded on YouTube, with a great filmatic scenery and video (wait till the last scene, which gives all the meaning to this release).

The No.1 smash hit of the year “I Just Might” is a non-stop listening, good vibes tune!