Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A fresh perspective in ‘To Be Loved’
doing standards— the record has “Young at Heart” and “Something Stupid,” here a duet with ReeseWitherspoon— but there are also tart, seemingly heartfelt R&B tunes that dial down the high-concept staginess.
“This record is easier for me to listen to without cringing,” Buble said. “I mean, I don’twant to put downmy previous stuff. But this feels so much more authentic.”
Rock, who’s alsoworked withMetallica andMotley Crue, said “To Be Loved” is “a little edgier, a little more rock ’n’ roll,” and credited Buble’s confidence in his decisions as an artist. “It’s kind of the same thingMetallica had on the ‘Black Album’ ” — the metal band’s tuneful 1991 smash— “though obviously with a different kind of music,” he added with a laugh.
According to Buble, the disc exercises a creative license paid for by the tens of millions of albums he’s sold. “I feel like I’ve earned the right to make the record I wanted to make,” he said. “I came in as a boy, and I’m a man now.”
That’s a familiar narrative among other singers with the kind of wholesome, parent-friendly appeal Buble hasn’t abandoned quite yet. Think of Josh Groban, whose last two albums —including this year’s “All That Echoes,” featuring a lead single called “Brave”— havemoved away from the glossy pop-classical sound that made him a star.
Both men started out as proteges of producerDavid Foster but have left his tutelage in recent years, describing their need to establish their own identities.
“David’s a genius, but he likes perfection, and philosophically that’s different from what movesme,” Buble said.
What’s refreshing about Buble, scheduled to begin aU.S. arena tour in September, is the sharp self-awareness with which he’s executing the transition. Performing Tuesday on “DancingWith the Stars,” he seemed almost to be rolling his eyes as he delivered a jumpy rendition of “Come DanceWithMe.”
And when he called me for a follow-up conversation after his video shoot, the singer literally couldn’twait to puncture the illusion of friendliness so many stars work to cultivate.
“Hello, it’s Michael Buble,” he said, “calling to promotemy record.”
Even “It’s a BeautifulDay,” the bouncy single with the antidepressant title, ends up being a poison pill, as Buble glories in howrelieved he is that “you’re the one who got away.”
“I’ve heard people saymy stuff is safe, but thiswas the opposite of that,” he said. “Not that I everwanted to turn 180 degrees and pull away from the 40 million people who’ve invested in me. But I had to show some growth formy own sake.” Buble’s voicewent into let-me-level-with-you mode.
“Trustme, we had the conversations about making a commercial product as opposed to an indulgent art object. And I honestly tried to straddle that line.”