Addison Thomas Wong
Since his last 2 albums raced across every music chart globally, fans have not gotten enough of this irresistible Canadian-born singer. For more than 2 years, he’s left them begging for more. Their wait is finally over.
Only Michael Bublé can rock the world to this extent just by doing covers of oldies. The answer is simple: no one, alive at least, can deliver them the way he does. It’s his seductive voice, his titillating personality, and his classic style, which have become familiar to many worldwide; and they all resound, only more spectacularly, in his latest #1 album, Call Me Irresponsible.
After conquering timeless tunes like “Fever”, “The Way You Look Tonight”, and “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” in his previous albums, Bublé revives another fine selection of mostly standards – some not as famous, but still tunes the world is better off never forgetting.
Listening to Bublé’s new album is like enjoying the soundtrack of a fantabulous musical – something similar to Chicago – the big band styles, the upbeat sounds, the mellow ranges and even an additional touch of gospel.
There’s such a dazzling selection of songs that it’s easy to visualise the multi-coloured neon lights come alive one by one on a musical stage with every snap of the fingers in the first track, “The Best Is Yet To Come”, making for a spectacular opening scene.
Familiar titles, like “Me And Mrs. Jones”, “Dream”, and Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” (featuring Brazillian music sensation Ivan Lins) all gel together as fantastic follow-ups that outline, within the musical, a 70’s love story, and concluding with a special take on the all-time Nat King Cole favourite, “L.O.V.E.”.
Other popular hits included are Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man”, Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life”, and Mel Tormé’s “Comin’ Home Baby”, which features the vocals of Boyz II Men.
As we’ve come to expect of Bublé, these are all refreshingly arranged.
In the middle of the album – track 9 to be exact – is a delightful love song, “Everything”. Co-written by Bublé himself, it is 1 of 2 originals in the album. Be prepared to have this song on repeat mode. It encompasses literally everything a love song should – lyrics with extreme glorification of that special someone who makes your knees go weak – and a tune that hooks you. This is, without doubt, the track to look out for in the album.
The other composition, “Lost”, unfortunately isn’t as fantastic as previous Bublé-written tracks, like “Home”, sounding too similar to Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” in the chorus, but is, nevertheless, a decent song.
On the whole, Call Me Irresponsible is testimony to Bublé’s growth as a vocalist. with the singer taking risks with higher ranges of notes and pulling them off impeccably in songs like “It Had Better Be Tonight”. “I’ve Got The World On A String” and the title track also show how Bublé has matured vocally since his last album.
But his voice is still as supple as we know it to be. The moment that deep, sexy and enchanting voice of his comes through in the first track, one can’t help but feel the sheer transport of the entire self to a supernatural world – the Bublé world – which, one has to admit, is a pretty darn wonderful place to be.
This is ringing proof that the best is, indeed, yet to come from this guy, who, as far as at least the next 5 years (cause we can’t deny the fact that it’s getting more difficult to succeed continuously in this business, with many come-and-goers these days) is concerned, is definitely here to stay.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Call Me Irresponsible is available at every music store from May 1.
Pictures provided courtesy of Eric Ogden