StʌrunneR

The early 2010s were a time when the veils between genres—pop, R&B, rock, dance music, even reggae—were delightfully thin. Coldplay teamed up with Rihanna, who in turn collaborated with Britney Spears (and Slash, too). Meanwhile, Maroon 5 embraced electro-pop and Adele carried the torch for timeless soul. But perhaps no star embodied the zeitgeist more thoroughly—or audaciously—than Bruno Mars, whose 2010 debut, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, became a breakout hit thanks to a panoramic sound that, if it doesn’t encompass every genre under the sun, surely sounds like it.
Despite the hook-filled Doo-Wops & Hooligans representing his first stab at recording a full-length album, Mars was no novice when it came to busting down walls between genres. The versatile child-entertainer-turned-in-demand-songwriter had already racked up composer credits for artists as diverse as Brandy, Natasha Bedingfield, and Cobra Starship before he and his production team, The Smeezingtons, started constructing the ambitious album, including a lead single, “Just the Way You Are,” that alone took months to hone. All the hard work paid off. The song’s effortless blend of puppy-love innocence, funky syncopation, and a Coldplay-style chorus helped it become one of the biggest hits of 2010, eventually netting Mars a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Both “Talking to the Moon” and “Marry You” reach similarly soaring heights, showing Mars’ facility as a straight-ahead rocker with an ear for melody. But as the delicious slice of lovers rock “Our First Time” and the soul-folk gem “The Other Side” demonstrate, he’s far too curious musically to stick to a single genre, a quality that would steer his subsequent solo releases as well as his work with Silk Sonic, his lush and dreamy supergroup with Anderson .Paak.
Mars’ nostalgic streak—the Hawaii native grew up playing oldies, after all—is yet another key flavor in Doo-Wops & Hooligans. But instead of taking center stage, as it would on 2012’s Unorthodox Jukebox (an album that unfolds like a turbo-charged crash course in pop-music appreciation 101), Mars deploys his love of vintage sounds strategically. There’s the old-school R&B swing fueling “Runaway Baby” and the Beatles-esque melody threaded through the romantic ditty “Count on Me.” Moreover, his voice consistently reveals inflections learned from spinning Thriller over and over. Ultimately, though, Mars isn’t time traveling on Doo-Wops & Hooligans so much as scattering Easter eggs to let listeners know his knowledge of music history is deep and wide.

无疑《Unorthodox Jukebox》是成功的。这张专辑中的声音比处女专辑中的“各类甜品”来得更为舒展大气，更有力量，也更为浑然一体。出色的 bassline 与八十年代合成器独特的旋律合声，气势在握的演唱，Bruno Mars 似乎要用致敬的方式带大家回归 MJ 主导流行奇迹的 80 时代。贯穿始终的 R&B 柔情，大热 Disco 金曲 《Treasure》中的舞步畅悦，Bruno Mars 找到了制造更大片光亮的能量。专辑幕后由 Mark Ronson、Jeff Bhasker 等著名制作人与 Mars 的团队 The Smeezingtons 组成，他们共同见证了《Unorthodox Jukebox》攀登至 Billboard 专辑榜冠军的奇迹，“火星哥”风暴就此在全世界掀起。

Heading into Unorthodox Jukebox, Bruno Mars was already launching a total takeover of the pop planet. As a member of The Smeezingtons—a writing-production trio that also included Philip Lawrence and Ari Levine—Mars played a crucial role in the 2010 successes of CeeLo Green’s “Fuck You,” Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire,” and B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ on You.” That same year came his debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, which featured the chart-topping singles “Just the Way You Are” and “Grenade.” Though only in his mid-twenties, Mars already had the kind of career year most artists would never be able to beat.

Still, it wasn’t until the 2012 release of Unorthodox Jukebox that it became clear Mars had the makings of a future Super Bowl headliner. The 10-track album, clocking in at a concise 35 minutes, wasn’t just a pop blockbuster—it was a superstar-making statement. And while Unorthodox Jukebox begins and ends with the doo-wop stylings Mars employed on his debut—on “Young Girls” and “If I Knew,” respectively—the album represents a style-hopping leap forward, featuring everything from reggae-pop (the Police-indebted smash “Locked Out of Heaven”) to soul-baring balladry (the chart-topping “When I Was Your Man”) to roller-skating R&B (the sparkling “Treasure”).

On Jukebox jams like “When I Was Your Man,” you can also hear Mars growing as a singer, one who’s confident enough to flex his vocals backed only by his own piano—with nowhere to hide. The album also finds Mars making some unorthodox choices with his lyrics, which are occasionally riskier (and more risqué). There’s sex, drugs, and alcohol mixing into the Princely allegories of “Gorilla” and “Moonshine,” while “Natalie” and “Money Make Her Smile” reveal the baller paranoia of a man who’s no longer the romantic innocent of his breakout single, “Just the Way You Are.”

经历 4 年的漫长沉寂之后，“火星哥”对这张专辑寄予厚望，他希望借此重塑 R&B 音乐的风貌。这个出生在夏威夷的流行歌手一直难以忘怀他在童年、青春期时热爱的 R&B 音乐人：TERRY LEWIS、Babyface、Teddy Riley 等等。在创作专辑的 16 个月中，他跟团队一直在为每一首歌曲找到最合适的旋律、最舒服的节奏，Mars 希望每一首歌都能让人笑着起舞。而 2017 年格莱美奖“年度专辑”、“最佳 R&B 专辑”等一连串获奖记录证明了他的成功，《24K Magic》如同一场永不落幕的派对，每个人都能在欢乐的音乐中随着节奏翩翩起舞。

Bruno Mars has always borrowed deftly from the past without painting himself into the corner of retro culture, whether it’s ’60s soul, ’70s power ballads, or early-’80s New Wave. With 2016’s 24K Magic, the vision is more deliberate: This is a love letter to ’80s and early-’90s R&B, straight up, from the Zapp-like bounce of “24K Magic” to the silk-brief seduction of “Versace on the Floor,” the callouts to Daisy Dukes and perms to the blocky beats of new jack swing (“Finesse”).

Mars’ ear for detail remains impressive: Take, for example, the way a skittering, trap-like hi-hat pattern turns the slow jam of “That’s What I Like” into a synthesis of past and present. Likewise, his swagger is so goofy as to be charming (“I got a condo in Manhattan,” he sings on “That’s What I Like”; “Baby girl, what’s happenin’?!”). But for all its fun and personality, what makes 24K Magic interesting is the way Mars manages to capture a moment in the development of R&B before it merged fully with hip-hop—a balance of showmanship, innocence, and sexuality that has defined his style from the beginning. He can take you back to the gym where you had your Valentine’s Day dance, sweaty palms and all—but he can also show you the ways in which the music never left.

所谓“玩音乐”玩到臻于化境是怎么回事？Bruno Mars 和 Anderson .Paak 组成的 Silk Sonic，以首张专辑《An Evening With Silk Sonic》结结实实地向我们展示了一把。“我们想让这张专辑与众不同。”Bruno Mars 告诉 Apple Music，“我们不是要搞那些虚的，只要 Anderson .Paak 坐那儿打鼓、唱歌，而要我上的时候，我就大胆地上，整支乐队也齐心协力，还有比这更美妙的吗？这简直就是音乐人的梦想啊。”

早在 2017 年 Anderson .Paak 为 Bruno Mars 巡演开场那会儿，两人就在录音棚里 jam 出过一些成果。2020 年初他们重启合作，突然爆发的疫情反而让他俩确定了专辑的宗旨：“突然之间，我的演出都被取消了，Andy（即 Anderson .Paak）的也是。”Mars 说，“我们开始担心自己永远没机会演出了，像其他艺人也是。我们就想，好吧，那干脆做一张专辑，让它听起来像一场完整的演出吧。”

“我和 Andy 都属于现场演出、演奏现场乐器那一挂的。”在数字化创作与制作“大行其道”的今天，Silk Sonic 坚持要使用更“本真”的音乐创作和表演方式，这和专辑从形式、视觉设计到歌曲多位一体，都是对 70 年代美国 R&B/灵魂乐/Funk 的一次全面复兴。最先释出的复古灵魂乐单曲《Leave The Door Open》深情如许、丝滑如蜜，确立了整张专辑的走向。来自 70 年代迷幻 Funk 乐队 Parliament-Funkadelic 的传奇贝斯手 Bootsy Collins，担任专辑的“串场主持人”，我们仿佛能从中看到经典音乐节目《灵魂列车》（Soul Train）的影子。

Silk Sonic 有机的音乐创作方式或许能从《Put On A Smile》的诞生过程中找到答案。刚开始 Mars 给 .Paak 放了他准备的一首歌，.Paak 直言：“烂透了。”但接着“我又唱了起来，他就去打鼓，奇迹就这样发生了。我们弄出了 hook、一组和弦，这下子我们才走上正轨，录音室里的一切都开始起反应了，这首歌听起来像样了”。Mars 说道。当年巡演期间的产物《Smokin Out The Window》也反映出两人之间神奇的化学反应：“（.Paak 的）生日那天，我把他叫了过来，那天晚上他亢奋极了，每唱完一遍就会大喊一声：‘我是 R&B 之王！我是最牛的！告诉我我是不是这一行里最红的！’我们反复讨论歌词，逗得对方哈哈大笑。歌录完以后，他说：‘我完事了，明天咱们干点啥？’”

《An Evening With Silk Sonic》并非对过去音乐的简单效仿。除了华丽的弦乐、层层叠加的和声，以及撩人的情情爱爱，你可以听到 Bruno Mars 的金嗓子不容置疑的优质发挥、Anderson .Paak 一贯稳定输出的说唱段落和饶有趣味、不落俗套的鼓点，还有《After Last Night》里 Thundercat 标志性的迷幻贝斯。“这种歌我们能让它演个 10 分钟”，Mars 的这句话，让人不禁期待真的能看到他们完整演出这张专辑的那一天。

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak were already hard at work on what would become An Evening With Silk Sonic when the pandemic shut down live music in early 2020, but they weren’t going to let that stop them from delivering a concert experience to their fans. “All of a sudden, my shows get canceled, Andy’s shows get canceled,” Mars told Ebro Darden during their R&B Now interview. “This fear of ‘we’ll never be able to play live again’ comes into play. And to take that away from guys like us, that’s all we know. So we’re thinking, all right, let’s put an album together that sounds like a show.”

It began with the project’s lead single, “Leave the Door Open,” a syrupy-sweet piece of retro soul that Mars considers something of a backbone for the project. After its completion, he and .Paak began building out the nine songs of An Evening With Silk Sonic, soliciting help, in the few instances where they needed it, from friends like Bootsy Collins, Thundercat, and even Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. Their access to HOF-worthy firepower notwithstanding, the pair always understood that their own combined musicality was the real draw. “We just wanted it to feel special,” Mars says. “Instead of trying to get too cute with the concept, it’s like, what’s more special than Anderson .Paak behind a drum set singing a song and me having his back when it’s my turn, you know? And the band moving in the same direction? It was just like a musician’s dream.” Below, the pair talk through some of the tracks that make An Evening With Silk Sonic an experience fans won’t soon forget.

“Leave the Door Open”
Bruno Mars: “Me and Andy come from the school of performing and playing live instruments. We wrote ‘Leave the Door Open’ and it was just one of those songs like, dang, I can’t believe we a part of this, and we don’t know what it’s gonna do, we don’t care that it’s a ballad or a whatever you wanna call it—to us, this just feels right and it’s important. So no matter what, if it hit No. 1 or it didn’t, me and Andy both know that that was the best we could do. And we were cool with that.”

“Fly as Me”
Anderson .Paak: “‘Fly as Me’ is a joint hook [Mars] had for a minute. He was trying to figure out some verses for it, trying to figure out the groove, and we spent some time on that.”
Mars: “Andy goes behind the drum set one day and says, ‘The groove gotta be like this,’ and starts playing his groove. D’Mile is on the bass, I’m on the guitar. After all the grooves we tried, I don’t know what it is, there’s something about someone in the studio, someone that you trust, saying, ‘It’s gotta be like this.’ And the groove you hear him playing, which is not an easy groove to play, was what he showed me and D. And we just followed suit.”

“After Last Night” (with Thundercat & Bootsy Collins)
Mars: “That one got a lot of Bootsy on it. And my boy Thundercat came in and blessed us. It’s just one of them songs—everything was built to be played live, so that song is one of those we can keep going for 10 minutes.”

“Smokin Out the Window”
Mars: “‘Smokin Out the Window’ was an idea we started four or five years ago on tour. It didn’t sound nothing like how it does now, but we just had the idea. On [.Paak’s] birthday, I called him over. He was hysterical that night. After every take he was like, ‘I’m the king of R&B! I’m the best! Tell me I’m not the hottest in the game!’ We were going back and forth with the lines and who can make who laugh, and we end up finishing that song and he was like, ‘I’m out, what we doing tomorrow?’”

“Put On a Smile”
Mars: “I had a song that I played for Andy and I said, ‘What do you think about this?’ and he said, ‘It sucks.’ I start singing it again and he gets behind the drums and that’s when the magic happens. So we come up with this hook and these chords and that’s when we start cooking, when everything starts moving in the studio. The song’s starting to sound real good now. I don’t wanna mess it up, so I call Babyface. I only call Face to know if I got something good, you know, ’cause he’ll tell me too, ‘This is wack.’ For all of us to finish that record together, that was one of my favorite experiences on this album.”

“Skate”
Mars: “It’s hard to be mad on some rollerskates. So really, that’s kinda the essence of this album: If me and Andy were to host a party, what would that feel like? Summertime. Outside. Set up the congas and the drums and amplifiers, and what would that sound like? And this is what our best effort was: ‘Skate.’”

距离 Bruno Mars 上一次发行个人专辑已近十年。2016 年，凭借《Locked Out of Heaven》一鸣惊人的他，正从风靡全球的流行乐路线转向他自幼钟爱的 R&B 律动，在第三张专辑《24K Magic》中带来一系列让人情不自禁起身热舞的歌曲，并借此横扫乐坛、斩获七座格莱美大奖。此后，Mars 并未停下脚步：他在拉斯维加斯举办驻场演出，与 Anderson .Paak 组成超级二人组，并在 2021 年推出了香槟气息四溢的专辑《An Evening with Silk Sonic》；与此同时，从 2024 年与 Lady Gaga 合作的对唱曲《Die With A Smile》到与 ROSÉ 合作的《APT.》，他也凭借多首热门金曲再创佳绩，后者更成为 Apple Music 2025 年播放量最高的歌曲。尽管如此，世界各地的舞池和乐迷依然意犹未尽，期待着一张 Mars 的全新个人专辑。

如今，这位流行乐坛的舞台王者终于携新作《The Romantic》回归，并将创作焦点投向两种永恒的欢愉：舞蹈与爱情。在一众熟悉的词曲与制作搭档（Brody Brown、Philip Lawrence、James Fauntleroy、D’Mile）的助阵下，他徜徉于往昔性感迷人的声响之中，以恰恰、Bossa Nova、Funk、新杰克摇摆等曲风，打造出既炽热奔放、又让人彻夜舞动的作品。在《Cha Cha Cha》中，他低声唱道：“穿上了我的‘柠檬胡椒’舞鞋/哦女孩 今晚你可要招架不住了”（Got my lemon-pepper steppers on/Ooh girl, you’re in trouble tonight），并在迪斯科段落中巧妙化用 Juvenile 2003 年的热门单曲《Slow Motion》。律动感十足的《On My Soul》里，他仿佛化身 Curtis Mayfield；而《I Just Might》则让人联想到 Leo Sayer 的《You Make Me Feel Like Dancing》，伴随着密集的拍手节奏，歌词“如果让我发现你不会跳舞/那可真要把我的心 我的心 我的心都伤透了”（It would break my heart, break my heart, break my heart/If I find out you can’t move…）歌颂着舞池中的暧昧情调。无论是恋人、舞蹈达人，还是婚礼 DJ，都能在 Bruno Mars 的浪漫音乐世界里尽情欢呼。

The last time Bruno Mars released an album of his own, the year was 2016 and the “Locked Out of Heaven” hitmaker had just pivoted from world-beating pop to the R&B grooves he fell in love with as a child—the kind of songs that make you get up off the wall and dance. It’s not like Mars has been slacking since that year’s 24K Magic, his inescapable, seven-time Grammy-winning third album. In the time since, he held down a residency in Las Vegas, formed a superduo with Anderson .Paak (2021’s champagne-soaked An Evening with Silk Sonic), and notched his belt with a few more megahits, from his 2024 Lady Gaga duet “Die with a Smile” to “APT.” with ROSÉ, Apple Music’s most-streamed song of 2025. Still, dance floors worldwide felt the absence of a new Mars solo album.

Nearly a decade after 24K Magic, pop’s preeminent showman returns with an album dedicated to two timeless pleasures: dancing and romance. With the help of a familiar crew of co-writers and producers (Brody Brown, Philip Lawrence, James Fauntleroy, D’Mile), the singer lavishes in the sultry sounds of yesteryear (cha-cha, bossa nova, funk, new jack swing) for songs that go all out in passion and boogie the night away. “Got my lemon-pepper steppers on/Ooh girl, you’re in trouble tonight,” he croons on “Cha Cha Cha,” slipping in a disco breakdown and a sly interpolation of Juvenile’s 2003 hit “Slow Motion.” Mars channels Curtis Mayfield on the groovy “On My Soul,” while “I Just Might” channels Leo Sayer’s “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” for a handclap-heavy ode to flirting on the dance floor. (“It would break my heart, break my heart, break my heart/If I find out you can’t move…”) Lovers, steppers, and wedding DJs, rejoice.