Michael Bublé: Call Me Irresponsible
Monday, 30 Apr 2007 00:00
Buble is an established performer
Reprise Records, out now.
In a nutshell…
Canada's answer to Frank Sinatra
What's it all about?
Call Me Irresponsible is the latest offering from Canadian hot-young-thing Michael Bublé. The singer has already gained success in recent years with albums It's Time and Caught in the Act and singles including one of 2005's most played radio tracks Home. In Call Me Irresponsible, there are of course tracks that will please the devoted Radio 2 and Magic FM listeners, but with new and original material the crooner hopes to gain a new and more contemporary following.
To this end, the new album mixes old standards including That's Life, The Best is Yet To Come and the title track, with new songs such as Lost – a melancholy tribute to a break-up – and the first single from the album, Everything.
While fellow artists trying to emulate the sounds of Ol' Blue Eyes and his gang may stick to the tried and tested formulas of Rat Pack songs, Bublé's new album departs from the crooner age, choosing classic songs that are not from the expected genre, including Me and Mrs Jones, Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight and Always On My Mind – the love song made famous by Elvis Presley.
Who's it by?
While the majority of the CD-buying population of the UK might not have heard of him, Michael Bublé is undoubtedly one of the best talents to have come out of the US in a long time. He may be able to walk down the streets of London with his girlfriend Devil Wears Prada star Emily Blunt unnoticed, but the 32-year-old Canadian has 12 million worldwide album sales under his belt.
His album It's Time sold more than five million copies and has been in the Billboard Traditional Jazz charts for more than two years, spending a record-breaking 80 weeks at the number one spot.
Magic FM listeners will not have been able to escape his hit single Home last year – the first song to bring the star into prominence within the UK – albeit among silver-haired listeners.
As a performer, Bublé is the closest thing to Frank Sinatra there is today. The Sunday Times recently described his stage presence as "magnetic". "He has charisma, energy and when he sings, words float out of his mouth; he swivels like Elvis with a flash of a tap dancing Fred Astaire. In a recent special Radio 2 performance in front of hundreds of fans at London's Shaftesbury Theatre, the singer did not fail to disappoint. Backed up by the BBC's Big Band, he put on an electric, yet charming performance, wowing the audience with his pregnant pauses, great musicality and unbelievably good voice.
As an example…
"And I can't believe, that I'm your man / And I get to kiss you baby just because I can /
Whatever comes our way / ah we'll see it through / And you know that's what our love can do." - Everything
"And if you've got to sleep / A moment on the road /I will steer for you /And if you want to work the street alone / I'll disappear for you /If you want a father for your child
Or only want to walk with me a while / Across the sand / I'm your man." - I'm Your Man
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Very likely. Bublé's two latest offerings It's Time and Caught in the Act earned him nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album in both 2006 and 2007. The 32-year-old was nominated in the same category as idols including Tony Bennett and Rod Stewart. In 2006, he also won four Juno Awards – Canada's equivalent to the Grammys – in categories including Artist of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. Call Me Irresponsible is sure to gain him similar recognition across the Atlantic.
What the others say
"As good as melancholy 'Home' was, hearing him let loose is like Christmas in April. Hopefully, given the format's tortoise-like movement, this will reach the top of the chart before we're pulling out the tinsel." - Monsters & Critics
"He once again re-invents pop's greatest standards, with his own wicked, sexy twist." -Variety
So is it any good?
It is surprisingly so. From the opening track The Best Is Yet to Come the listener is eased into the familiar crooning classic, with Bublé's velvety tones backed by swinging big band brass. The title track Call Me Irresponsible also does pretty much what it says on the tin – but unlike those who have tried and failed before him, the young star does not fail to disappoint. There are not many artists – especially in today's Pop Idol conveyer belt of a music scene – who can be mentioned in the same breath as Sinatra.
Bublé wows the most when he departs from the Rat Pack-esque tunes and brings something different to other classics. His 1970s cabaret-style Wonderful Tonight presents a totally different take on the classic Clapton ballad, while Always on My Mind is a more intimate and understated version than the King's, but still hits the spot.
One of the album highlights is the jazzy version of Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man – wrought with dramatic pauses, crescendos and key changes but still succeeding in being an intimate ballad.
Original material including Everything and Lost are no weak offerings either, with the swinging star not failing to impress.
A collaboration with the harmonic Boyz II Men on Coming Home Baby may seem like an odd pairing, but it works. However, the Boyz act as mere background to Bublé's warbling. And as if That's Life wasn't rousing enough already, the album includes the singer pairing with a gospel choir on the track creating a truly uplifting version.
All in all, pretty darn good.
9/10
Chine Mbubaegbu
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