Sometimes, you realise you harbour an unexplained animus for a thing. For the longest time, for example, I thought I loathed olives. Then I ate some. Turns out I actually kind of love them. So now I’m making room on the shelf next to those olives, because that’s exactly how I feel about diminutive singer-songwriter Bruno Mars.
I first heard of Hawaii-born Mars (real name Peter Gene Hernandez), 31, when he featured on two songs back in 2010: Nothin’ On You (it reached No 1 in the UK, so was unavoidable for weeks) and the ultra-catchy Billionaire. Play them now at your own risk: Mars, co-writer on both, is stunningly effective at creating earworms. I imagine that’s what made him a repeat choice for the producers of TV show Glee: Mars’ pop is the Platonic ideal, joyful and silly and the epitome of a good singalong. It’s the reason producer Mark Ronson asked him to do vocals on their monster hit Uptown Funk. And why he performed at the Super Bowl, twice.
He is, in other words, the essence of aural fun. Better still, he’s sincere with it: Mars wants you to have a good time when you play his music. He takes his job seriously – how else to explain his retro-inspired music videos, in which he dances uninhibited, and lyrics such as “I’m too hot (hot damn)/make a dragon wanna retire, man”? You can’t help but join in. You’re smiling, dancing. It’s all good.
After a couple of years away, Mars has now returned with another addictive single, 24K Magic, and an album of the same name due later this month. I’ll be waiting, munching olives, and dancing.
