Bruno Mars returns with The Romantic in February, his first album in 10 years

Bruno Mars has completed his next album. Title The Romantic, it’s slated to be released on Feb 27, with new music also dropping on Friday (Jan 9).

The 40-year-old singer took to X to reveal the details, which included the album cover as well as vinyl preorders on his website.

It will be the Uptown Funk singer’s first album since 2016’s 24K Magic, which includes hits such as That’s What I Like and Finesse.

Since 24K Magic, Mars has collaborated with other artists, including Cardi B for their 2018 remix of Finesse and Anderson .Paak for their 2021 album An Evening With Silk Sonic.

Mars’ more recent works include 2024’s Die With A Smile – featuring Lady Gaga – and Apt with Blackpink’s Rose.

After releasing Apt in Oct 2024, Bruno teased he had recorded more music with the Number One Girl hitmaker.

He told Billboard: “Oh, yeah, there is [more music]. And we love that song that we worked on – I won’t say the title … We’re just trying to figure out when, or how.”

The Talking To Mhe Moon singer also revealed that Koreans have embraced him since the K-pop collaboration.

He said: “I don’t know if you know this, but it’s different for me now in Korea.”

Mars explained: “Because of Rosie, it’s a different thing. They treat me a little different now over there. And like I said, I really gravitated toward the song because it had a piece of Korean culture and I thought that was magical.”

Bruno compared the success of Apt to Psy’s 2012 K-pop blockbuster track Gangnam Style.

He said: “No one says it, but I feel like Rosie is the first time we’ve seen this. The last time we’ve seen something to this effect was Gangnam Style.

“I still think that was an amazing thing to happen, this guy comes out and he’s talking about Gangnam style and the whole song is in Korean and that’s the learning lesson, the rock star-ness of that.

“This is what we do, this is how I talk, this is what we look like, this is how we’re dancing over here – and watch me sweep the nation with this s***. And he did.

“Apt with Rosie, I’ve never felt this before, I’ve never seen this before, where Rosie is this Korean girl that introduced this thing to people who don’t know about it, including myself. And that’s been the most enjoyable part for me. Seeing everybody react … that is magic to watch.”

Source: CNA 
--Agencies