LOS ANGELES 鈥� When Bruno Mars made it big a couple of years ago with his debut, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, the impeccably attired singer did it with such conclusive style that you never really thought about the effort he put into his image.
In an era of amateur-driven American Idol/ The Voice/ X Factor pop, here was a guy who seemed to have appeared fully formed one day: a pompadoured crooner in the tradition of Frankie Lymon, yet remade with modern trimmings that appealed to a crowd raised on X-rated hip-hop and post-everything boy bands.
His music felt just as precision-crafted: Just the Way You Are and Grenade propelled Mars to No. 1 on the singles chart, he sold 1.8聽million albums and earned multiple nominations for Grammy Awards. It was a level of renown Mars had been aiming for since he moved to L.A. nearly a decade ago to pursue a solo career. Or at least that鈥檚 the way it seemed.
鈥淏ecoming famous was never what I wanted to do,鈥� he insists. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things that come with fame 鈥� it鈥檚 what people in the limelight have to do. I鈥檓 like, 鈥�;Can鈥檛 I just write and sing?鈥� 鈥�
On a recent visit to his Cape Cod-style home high in the Hollywood Hills, Mars, 27, looked dressed less for success than for hiding from it. Wearing rumpled jeans and an untucked T-shirt, his eyes shielded behind silver aviators, the usually dapper entertainer was due to fly to Sweden the next morning to promote his new sophomore disc. At the moment, though, he hardly seemed in the mood to talk himself up.
鈥淚f people are going to have an idea of me,鈥� he said, 鈥淚鈥檇 just want them to think of a guy who goes in the studio, works hard and jams out.鈥�
Unorthodox Jukebox, which came out Dec. 11, gives a different impression of the man behind the choreographed moves, presenting a dramatic vision of love under siege by fame (Young Girls), fortune (Natalie), and his own tomfoolery (When I Was Your Man).
Even relatively conflict-free tunes such as Moonshine and Gorilla 鈥� in which he invites a 鈥渄irty little lover鈥� to bang on his chest like a great ape 鈥� exude a gritty desperation.
It鈥檚 an unexpected shift in tone from an artist known initially as pop鈥檚 go-to good guy, an old-fashioned romantic doling out positive affirmations not long after he鈥檇 first appeared with ingratiating guest spots on B.o.B.鈥檚 Nothin鈥� on You and Travie McCoy鈥檚 Billionaire.
鈥淚 think people will be surprised by it,鈥� said Philip Lawrence, one of Mars鈥檚 partners in his L.A.-based production crew, the Smeezingtons. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not for shock value 鈥� it鈥檚 telling a story, digging deeper into the feeling of what it means to become a celebrity.鈥�
Speaking in a relaxed manner opposite his frenzied stage presence, Mars described that experience as 鈥渂eing thrown to the wolves and having to deal with it鈥� and said he wanted Unorthodox Jukebox to reflect where he is, not where he was.
鈥淚 love those [older] songs,鈥� he said, sunning himself on a patio as one of his handlers arrived bearing cigarettes and coconut water. 鈥淚鈥檒l stand by them and sing them till the day I die. But an artist has to stay excited to keep on doing it. And the way to stay excited is to keep pushing and to keep experimenting. I feel like I pushed on this record.鈥�
So far, he hasn鈥檛 seen any push back: Last week the album entered Billboard鈥檚 album chart at No. 2, while Locked Out of Heaven, the disc鈥檚 lead single, just spent its second week atop the Hot 100. Reviews have been strong too, with high praise from Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone, the latter of which said the album 鈥渕akes the competition sound sad and idea-starved by comparison.鈥�
Indeed, the songs on Unorthodox Jukebox burst with detail, each one a meticulously constructed example of its genre. In Locked Out of Heaven, Mars and his mates re-create the sharp-angled reggae-rock of the early 鈥�80s Police. Treasure is a lush disco-soul jam. And If I Knew channels Sam Cooke鈥檚 church-born R&B.
The infectious sonics soften the effect of edgy themes such as the homage to a stripper named Where Your Stacks At in Money Make Her Smile. And they provide a buoyancy that, as in so much great pop, lifts Mars above the sometimes-bleak scenes he describes. (It鈥檚 worth remembering that the Smeezingtons were behind the endearingly acidic Cee Lo Green hit known on the radio as Forget You.)
鈥淥ne of their great talents is that they have this fun, light vibe in the studio,鈥� said Jeff Bhasker, who along with Mark Ronson joined the Smeezingtons for production and songwriting work on Unorthodox Jukebox. 鈥淭hat allows you to be free so that you can let that primal emotion come out without being embarrassed. Then they polish afterward.鈥�
Part of that polish, added Ronson, is the charisma Mars has honed since his childhood days as an Elvis impersonator in Hawaii, where he grew up.
鈥淓verything Bruno adds is what takes it into superstardom,鈥� said Ronson.
