EAU DE BUBLÉ
Singer invites a spritz
Michael Bublé comes on the line speaking a string of Spanish.
His tone comes across as somewhat stern, but in true Canadian form he ends his directive with an emphatic, “gracias” before turning his attention to the media call that has just been patched through to his Argentina home. With his hometown newspaper. Via a contact at a U.K. press office. The slightly comical irony presented by the long-distance workaround is not lost on Bublé.
“I find it completely fascinating that I just had to call London just so they could return the phone call all the way back to my hometown,” he says. “Of course, instead of me just calling you.”
We’re only 15 seconds into our interview and two things have quickly become apparent: the Burnabyborn crooner is busy juggling his current roles as a husband, father of two and an international superstar; and, these days, he’s keeping a critically close eye on how his time is being spent.
“Having kids gives you a different perspective on life, I think. And in a very basic way, it gave me a sense of what was important for me in my very personal life,” he says. “But there was something I felt deeply about the trajectory of where I was going in my career. I’m very proud of where I came from, but I was very deliberate about where I was going.”
And that deliberate path has led him to a point that sees him releasing a new album, which is his first studio release in three years, as well as adding a new bullet point to his resumé. And it’s one he never expected to add: perfumer.
“It wasn’t really something I was jumping at the chance to do. I fought doing it, to be honest,” Bublé says of his recent foray into fragrances. “If it wasn’t done correctly, it would be tacky.”
If he was going to create a fragrance, and it was a very big ‘if’, Bublé says he had to be in complete control.
“I know there are a lot of fragrance deals out there where a company calls and they’re licensed to a celebrity’s name and the celebrity gets the money and they smile, and then they sell the product. And I had no interest in any of that,” he explains of his hesitation. “If I was going to do this, it was going to be for solid reasons.”
So, what was the motivation behind Bublé’s decision to create By Invitation now?
“Number 1, it was a great opportunity in a changing landscape in a business where it’s just harder and harder to connect with your audience. Everything has become so diversified and it was a great chance to be invited into the homes and lives of many people who may not know about me or maybe haven’t had the inclination to give my music a chance,” he says. “And secondly, the fact that I could be in control.”
These reasons, coupled with the fact the idea of mixing and crafting a fragrance seemed to be a familiar task for Bublé as the musician, were the decision-making factors behind his signing off on By Invitation.
“I actually got to go to a laboratory with perfumers and I actually got to create the fragrance,” he says. “The creative process wasn’t that different from writing songs, to be honest with you. When I write a song I take many different notes and combinations and I take these wonderful notes and I try to complete a harmony in the hopes that something complex sounds effortless.”
Described in a news release as “a glamorous floral oriental gourmand, encompassing the iconic flowers of love,” the eau de parfum includes top notes of red fruits and bergamot layered over heart notes of lily of the valley, wild jasmine and peony, all on a warm base of sandalwood musk and vanilla.
“I’ve always been a fan of something that wasn’t too strong,” Bublé explains of the selection of notes. “I never wanted something as a women’s fragrance that was so floral it made me think of my grandmother. Nor did I want something that was so sweet that I mistook kissing my wife for being in high school.”
The resulting scent is alluring at first spritz with a candied undertone that’s sweet but not sickly. As it warms and develops on skin, its musky, unisex base wears in a pleasantly complex way.
In addition to controlling the creation of the elixir, Bublé says he was also adamant about having final say on every other detail of the project — from the name of the scent, which Bublé says is meant to convey a literal invitation to women to “try something different” from their usual scent, to the design of the bottle.
“It wasn’t just the fragrance, it was everything,” he says. “I didn’t move mountains, but I did what I had to do. I made tough decisions, that ultimately, I have been very fulfilled by them. I knew I had to leave my comfort zone.”
As a result, Bublé says his creations — both in the studio and beyond — are more authentic. And that’s what he hopes to convey with his first fragrance: a refreshing authenticity.
“I want women, and don’t misquote me, I want women to feel confident, sexy and alive,” Bublé responds when asked of his mission for the new scent. “That’s how I want women to feel every day of their lives — and that’s without a fragrance. I hope they think my fragrance is pretty. But I don’t expect it to change lives.”
I never wanted something as a women’s fragrance that was so floral it made me think of my grandmother.