Picture this; it’s 2016 and you’re riding the bus to school. Over the crunchy, stifled speakers you faintly hear iHeart Radio introducing the year’s newest hits as it transitions into Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic.
Bruno Mars has been made a household name in the past 15 years as a R&B Hip-pop sensation. Mars recently climbed to the #1 most streamed artist in the world with over 123 million monthly listeners on Spotify. This achievement was due in part to not only his unfathomably catchy songs, but also the success of Lady Gaga’s “Die With a Smile” on which he was the main feature. Although he has had the recognition he deserves, we feel as though his arguably greatest album-An Evening With Silk Sonic-often gets swept under the rug when it comes to appreciating his finest work.
When Triton senior Josh Penney was questioned about Mars he had to say; “Bruno’s the goat,” Penney said. “He doesn’t have one bad song”.
The first song on the album, “Silk Sonic Intro,” is a wonderfully-crafted interlude that perfectly sets the tone and scene for the album. Taking heavy inspiration from 70s soul R&B, the band dives into harmony, preparing their imaginary audience for their performance. This is also where special guest host Bootsy Collins is introduced, an instantly recognizable character in the R&B scene known for his vocal pronouncement and narration over songs. Collins ends the minute-and-a-half interlude with
“Fellas, we hope you got something in your cup, And ladies don’t be afraid, to make your way to the stage, for a band that I name, Silk Sonic”.
This statement beautifully transitions into what is probably the most recognizable song on the album, “Leave the door open”. Following the theme of love expressed through R&B, there really can be enough said about this song that would convey just how incredible it is. Starting off with the albums main feature Anderson .Paak, a relatively new yet highly acclaimed and in my opinion, underrated artist. Paak speaks directly to an unnamed lover, asking
“What you doing? Where you at? Oh you got plans? don’t say that.”.
All the while the background vocalists punctuate his words by repeating each line. After Paak is finished serenading this lover, Mars picks up at the start of the chorus, explaining “I aint playing no games, every word that we say is coming straight from the heart”.
To which the entire band harmonizes together, telling the ladies “So If you tryna lay in these arms, Imma leave the door open.”
This first verse and chorus are what you will come to love out of this super-duo, and are why we love this album so much as a huge Bruno Mars fan. The band really supports each other to create something new and unique, truly different from Mars’ regular work of hard-hitting singles. After the end of this song comes the band counting off a new, funkier beat for “Fly As Me”. The song is once again kicked off by Paak, as he lays down vocals coinciding with the mood of the song. This is later broken up by what you expect to come of a Bruno Mars song, as Bruno joins the band with his incredible vocals singing
“I deserve to be, with somebody as fly as me, And you deserve to be seen, with somebody as fly as me, Somebody this fly,”.
Songs like this one that are in between the huge hits are what confuse me as to why they get overlooked. They are easily playlist worthy and work perfectly to transition into some of the longer, more heartfelt ones in the album. “Fly As Me” ends with a transition into a much slower and more seductive “After last night” featuring singer, songwriter and curiously actor Thundercat. Thundercat is another artist that is overshadowed by Mars insane presence, but really brings flavor to what we think is one of if not the most underrated song on the album. The song starts with a female voice saying
“Damn I don’t even know who I was last night, it’s just something about you,”.
To which Collins exasperatedly exclaimed
“Ooh baby, Now I don’t know what you did, when you did, what you did, but you did it, girl, see normally I don’t stutter but you d-d-d-d-do it to me!”.
What follows this iconic intro is a simple masterclass as the whole band melodies along, telling this girl that “After last night, we think I’m in love with you”.
My favorite part about this song is the continued punctuation of Collins throughout the song, as I really like his character and how he stands out from the rest of the band. The song ends with another beautiful transition into the other most recognized song from this album “Smokin Out The Window”. Although I don’t think that this is the best song on the album, it is my favorite and a lot of other people’s too.
“Smokin Out The Window is so catchy, that’s probably my favortite one,” said Nick Bonasera, a Triton senior.
This song is a jarring but welcome break from all of the love talk throughout the past four tracks, as the band angrily explains the how this lover has them
“Paying for rent, Paying for trips, diamonds on her neck, diamonds on her wrist, and here I am all alone, I’m so cold, I’m so cold, ya got me out here, smokin out the window,”.
This electric performance is also supported by a hilarious music video, where the 70s influence is on full display with warm colors, flared pants, and cigars. This song is nothing short of perfect. It’s catchy, it’s funny, and it really turns the theme of the album on its head. From here there are 5 more songs: “Put On A Smile.”, “777”, “Skate”, “Love’s Train”, and “Blast Off”. They all are very similar to the first four songs, following the theme of serenading a lover with some incredible vocal performances in between. Our favorite of these is “Love’s Train”. The song is just a great blend of what we love about Silk Sonic and Bruno Mars with incredible harmonies and falsettos.
Although we think that this album is very underrated, An Evening With Silk Sonic performed really well, earning four grammys and staying on the billboard’s top 200 for months after its release. We feel like in the grand scheme of Bruno Mars’ wildly successful career, Silk Sonic deserves to be mentioned and respected alongside his other great albums of the early 2010s that made him so famous and recognizable.
