Michael Bublé loves again

Last week’s most welcome piece of music news was the release of a new album by the Canadian singing star Michael Bublé. It has already been two years since his last one and after being inundated these past months with rap and hip-hop sounds of all sorts from everywhere, listening to Bublé’s crooning certainly feels like the most refreshing thing to do. Ever. At last, here is something new and different, but still with an old, familiar feel.

And do you know what the first single release is? When I Fall In Love. That is right, the Nat King Cole standard composed by Victor Young from the ‘50s is the lead cut of the album. Which given the romantic content is simply titled Love, but no letters, instead it is written as a red heart emoji.

Bublé, who was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada, made his major label debut in 2003 with the album titled Michael Bublé. He was young and attractive in the heartthrob manner but he did not sing pop. Instead, his album, which was produced by the famous David Foster, was made up of oldies. Think of songs like The Way You Look Tonight, Fever, Put Your Head On My Shoulder, For Once In My Life, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart and others. He became some sort of novelty then, a young man who does the old tunes with inborn Rat Pack swagger.

Bublé soon became a major star with No. 1 sellers among his albums, Call Me Irresponsible, Crazy Love and To Be Loved. And while he often experimented with new originals, including some that he composed, the songs that he is most often associated with are the old standards. He has, to this date, sold over 75 million records.

Then two years ago, Bublé announced that he was taking a break from work to spend time with his young son Noah who was diagnosed with liver cancer and undergoing treatment. Fans sadly accepted his decision. And now he is back, a move that also means good news as far as his son’s illness is concerned. Noah is getting better and he can share his father with us again.

Bublé not only chose to do his trademark standards covers again but he also brought Foster back to the studio to co-produce with him. Remember, Foster is no longer just the superstar producer of Celine Dion and Josh Groban and other big stars, he is now also a big TV star as one of the judges of the talent search, Asia’s Got Talent. But he gladly returned to recording for Bublé.

So we now have Bublé back and he is in fine vocal form throughout Love, (emoji). Then there are Foster’s trademark soaring arrangements and mixes. With these two together again and songs like When I Fall In Love, we now have the most swoon-ful album of the year.

Love (emoji) also includes: I Only Have Eyes For You; Love You Anymore, a new original co-written with Charlie Puth; La Vie En Rose ft. Cecile McLorin Salvant; My Funny Valentine; Such A Night; Forever Now; Help Me Make It Through The Night ft. Loren Allred; Unforgettable; When You’re Smiling; Where Or When; and the bonus tracks that appear in the De Luxe Edition, When You’re Not Here and I Get A Kick Out Of You.

And because it is that time of year again, make sure to take out your CD copy or at least to stream or download one of the most sparkling albums of all time, Bublé’s fourth No. 1 seller, Christmas. Also produced by Foster, it is absolutely loaded with 16 tracks and has Bublé radiating happiness in every one of them. The mix of traditional carols and pop Christmas tunes puts everybody in a happy mood. Utterly infectious, Christmas has become one of my favorite picker uppers these past few years.

The line-up includes It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town; Jingle Bells ft. The Puppini Sisters; White Christmas with Shania Twain; All I Want For Christmas Is You; A Holly, Jolly Christmas; Santa Baby; Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas; Christmas (Baby) Please Come Home; Silent Night; Blue Christmas; Cold December Night; I’ll Be Home For Christmas; Ave Maria; and Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad with Latin superstar ThaIia.

Now with Foster back with Bublé, I do hope that there will be something new from Foster’s other famous protégé, Josh Groban.