By Ed Diokno
Bruno Mars and Norah Jones, two big-name Asian American artists, released their newest singles on the same day, Friday.
It has been almost four years since Mars last album, Grammy-winning Unorthodox Jukebox; and two years since the mega-smash single Uptown Funk. The new album will feature 12 new cuts including some collaborations including 24K Magic which was dropped yesterday.
He’s been using social media to tease his fans all week about the new single. Word is that the album will debut in November, so the Hawaiian-born Filipino American can qualify for the Grammy’s next year.
It’s not like he’s been out of the public eye. He’s been part of the half-time shows of two Superbowls, including the last one with Coldplay and Beyonce.
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In 2014, Mars did a worldwide concert tour, the Moonshine Jungle Tour.
Mars also scored a co-writing credit on the decade’s fastest-selling LP, partly penning Adele’s climactic ballad All I Ask, from her 2015 album 25.
Enjoy Gold, another cut from Mar’s forthcoming album:
Among the collaborators on the upcoming album is Skrillex, the electonix whiz. “I’m not going to give specifics of what it sounds like, but what we’re doing is so f—king different, awesome and next level and sounds like nothing else that’s happened before,” said Skrillex.
And there’s a strong possibility of a song with Missy Elliott since she posted this Instagram:
Meanwhile, Norah Jones, who also hasn’t had a new album out since 2012, debuts her new album featuring the single Flipside.
Jones told Rolling Stone Flipside was inspired by the political and social tumult of the past few years. “It’s been really volatile and crazy,” she said in a statement. “I was listening to the Les McCann song Compared to What a lot and was very much influenced by how grooving and amazing it is but also how it’s very political and it’s just from the gut.”
Some of the lyrics:
You saw your reflection all over the news. Your temperature’s well past a hundred and two. Put the guns away, or we’ll all gonna lose
Flipside is part of the Indian American’s (her father was Ravi Shankar) new album Day Breaks, which will feature some six original songs alongside covers of Neil Young, Horace Silver and Duke Ellington.
