Buble Releases New Album, But It Didn’t Come Easy

Michael Buble admitted he endured many sleepless nights trying to think of ways to make his newest album sellout faster than his last. The smooth balladeer said he would toss and turn thinking of ways to build on his momentum that has won him high-profile fans such as Tony Bennett, among others. 

“I was nervous about this record. We sold six million at the last one and I’ll be devastated if this one doesn’t do seven,” said Buble.

The 31-year-old singer confessed he has a tough time living in the moment and enjoying his success. “Basically, for two years since that last record, `It’s Time,’ came out, I spent every moment thinking about the next record because I can’t just sit and rest on my laurels,” the Vancouver crooner said in an interview in a downtown Toronto hotel room earlier this year.

“I think probably it’s a fault. I can’t enjoy it. I have to make sure that the next one’s great. I don’t want to fall, I don’t want to lose ground. I don’t appreciate things, I really don’t. I don’t smell the roses and it’s a fault, you know, it’s damaging at a certain point. But I think on the other side it’s also, I guess, great because it keeps me motivated.”

“And with the record business going down the tube the way it is, people tell me that that’s impossible. They say, `Michael, to sell seven million records, it’s just not going to happen,’ and I refuse to believe that.”

Adding to his stress were the friendly arguments, the “great battles” as he called them, in the studio between himself and producers Humberto Gatica and David Foster, his longtime friend and collaborator.

“They had very strong ideas about, you know, `We want you to do this song in this way,’ and I know who I am. I mean, I really know who I am and what I want and I just said, `No,”‘ said Buble, who has been singing professionally since he was 16 and recently won top male vocalist at Canada’s National Jazz Awards.

It seems the conflict was worth it though.

“Everything,” the catchy Bob Rock-produced single from the 13-track album, had reporters buzzing during a sneak preview listening session in January. It also recently debuted at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S. — Buble’s best Hot 100 showing to date.

Buble said his girlfriend, British actress Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada”), was “definitely” an inspiration for the song, one of two original tracks on the album. The other original tune, “Lost,” was co-written with Canadian songstress Jann Arden and “was based on my reality and emotionally what I was going through,” said Buble, who started recording the tunes with an orchestra last September.

The rest of the new disc consists of jazz standards, including “The Best is Yet to Come,” “I’ve Got the World on String,” and the title track. There’s also a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man,” and a rendition of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

“Comin’ Home Baby” features the harmonies of 1990s boy band Boyz II Men, who were “a huge part” of Buble’s life while he was growing up, he said. Buble said his life is decidedly more subdued these days, though, consisting more of low-key dinners with Blunt and friends than of Hollywood parties. Blunt might event join the Sinatra-style singer when he goes on tour this summer, he said.

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