By: Vincent Pensabene
Michael Buble released “Nobody But Me,” which was his ninth studio album and seventh major studio album. Buble said “I don’t know that I’ve ever had this much fun working on an album… It was especially thrilling to collaborate with my band who understand that I want to sound better than I’ve ever sounded…” so it is easy to tell that this album is going to be good.
The opening track on the album is “I Believe in You” and is about that person that anyone falls in love with and gives them the inspiration that a person might need. The use of the acoustic guitar primarily makes it feel heartfelt. The lyrics are emotional as Buble sings, “I believe in starting over, I believe your heart is true… I believe in love you give me reason to.” The nostalgia that the listener gets of that first time they fell in love quickly comes back to them when listening to this song.
“My Kind of Girl” has more of a jazz feeling with the orchestra in the background of the lyrics. It explains how a person feels after seeing the girl of their dreams and are trying to explain her to their friends. The lyrics of “And my mind’s in a kind of whirl, cause in my mind she’s my kind of girl… And my heart has a kind of joy, cause in her mind, I’m just her kind of boy” are evident of that sensation a person has when they talk about that special person in their own life. Buble does an excellent job of giving the listener an image of the girl he is singing about with the lines, “She’s wise like an angel’s wise with eyes like an angel’s eyes, and a smile like a kind of pearl… To my mind, she’s my kind of girl.” The orchestra background really adds to this song as well giving the listener the sense of sincerity in the lyrics.
The title track is easily regarded as the song that will be most remembered from this album, “Nobody But Me” has a pop-like rhythm to it and the addition of a verse from Black Thought, a vocalist of The Roots, makes the song fit today’s hit song formula. This song describes how one feels about a girl and how they are the only one that can give her attention. With lyrics such as, “My momma taught me how to share cause I’ll be selfish and I don’t care” and “I don’t want anybody loving my baby, nobody but me,” the listener can imagine how emotional he gets with this girl. The rap verse by Black Thought adds an extra element to the song with the lines, “I like whatever you like, we have to do right, and do like two sovereign nations and try to unite” and “I’m proud of you like a treasure, you’re the one I’m cherishing, every other girl is really pairing in comparison.” The feeling of having their loved one is apparent throughout this song and the featuring artist added a different spin on the song.
“On An Evening in Roma (Sotto er ciela de Roma)” has an old-fashioned love type of feeling to it, as the instrumental in the background really adds a flavor that has not appeared on the album thus far. Buble does an excellent job helping the listener envision that they are in Rome throughout the song. It has some Italian words that help set the mood, the translated lyrics are “how beautiful is the moon, shines and narrows…Narrow as it is all beautiful to walk under the sky of Rome.” This song is about meeting with the love of your life in Rome, nothing more cliché than that.
“Today Is Yesterday’s Tomorrow” has the most unique sound on the entire album by being extremely catchy and will be stuck in the listener’s head for a long time. The song is about not waiting because today is yesterday’s tomorrow. Towards the end of the song, there is an introduction of a trumpet that adds to the excitement that the song possesses. With lyrics like, “cause today is yesterday’s tomorrow, why take any longer the feeling’s getting stronger? No I can’t wait” and the upbeat tempo, it is easy to see why this song will be stuck on repeat after listening to it for the first time.
“The Very Thought of You” has a very classical feeling with the background music and the serenating with the lyrics. The song is simply about a man that is head over heels in love with a girl and reminds the listener almost of a musical-esque type of romance. “The mere idea of you, the longing here for you you’ll never know how slow the moments go till I’m near to you” show the compassion that Buble is feeling to whomever the song is about. If anyone is ever in need of a song for describing what someone means, this song should be at the top of the list.
“I Wanna Be Around” is the first song that is not about falling in love, but about heartbreak, making it inevitably awkward on this album. The closing lyrics show the emotion of the song with the lyrics, “and that’s when I’ll discover that revenge is sweet as I sit there applauding from a front-row seat when somebody breaks your heart just like you broke mine.” The change in theme with this song makes it feel that much more refreshing to listen to, since the entire album up to this point has been falling in love with that special someone.
The eighth song is one that will instantly get on the radio waves of all top 40 stations titled “Someday” featuring Meghan Trainor. This is the first time that Buble has recorded an original song that was not written by himself. “Someday” is about still being in love with someone after a breakup years ago. The chorus really captures the essence of the song with the lyrics “Someday maybe when we’re old and gray we could be in love once more…Till then I’ll won’t give my love away, darling I’m forever only yours. ”This collaboration really improves the album, with Trainor’s voice sounding refreshing after hearing Buble solo almost the entire album.
“My Baby Just Cares For Me,” is about how great his girlfriend is in his eyes. With lyrics such as, “Brando just ain’t her style and even Mr. Clooney’s smile, it’s something she just don’t see,” the listener can see just how much he feels loved. At one point in the song, the listener can hear Michael Buble talking to the band and it becomes evident that he is just having a lot of fun on this song, as well as with the album.
The final song on the album is a cover of “God Only Knows,” originally by The Beach Boys. Buble made the decision to slow down the music and basically show off his vocal range. Even though Buble does an astounding rendition of the song, The Beach Boys’ classic is too well- known to compete with.
“Nobody But Me” has a multitude of different sounding songs and the featured singers really add an extra flavor to it. “Nobody But Me” as an album is definitely one of Buble’s best. Since the album has a certain feeling to it that makes the listener want to go find their own love, this album deserves four out of five stars.
