USA: Canadian crooner Michael Buble releases his new album and dismisses persistent comparisons with Frank Sinatra

Michael Buble, the Canadian musician who is well known for reinterpreting classic jazz favourites and introducing them to a younger generation, is out with a new album. "Call Me Irresponsible" is a combination of mostly old classics such as "The Best is Yet To Come", a Frank Sinatra hit and Sammy Cahn's "Call Me Irresponsible" as well as some new Buble numbers like, "Everything." To promote the release of the new album, Buble was in New York recently. The singer explained how "Call Me Irresponsible" is all about love, and how there are different points of view when one is in love. "This is a very simple concept, the concept is love and the in's and out's of love, the good and the bad. But to me the difference between this record and last is really conceptually. Every song has a very clear concept to me, and each song if you listen, if you listen hard enough, you'll hear where I've been inspired. You'll hear the artists that have inspired me or the groove. It was important for me to really make each song a totally different experience, no different than a chef who wants to brings you up five courses and to make each one of them an explosive, exciting addition to the whole meal," said Buble of the album. Buble who travelled to 47 countries last year while touring, and says he visits an average of 40 countries every year, is considered to have made classic jazz more accessible to the common man. Buble believes this is because his music is also greatly influenced by his exposure to pop growing up in the eighties. "I don't make jazz music, I make pop music, with the roots of jazz and so I think that I make music for the people, I think that sometimes people get a little intimidated by jazz, some of it is very intricate and complicated and I was really never maybe intelligent enough to get that, my favourite songs were three chord Beatles songs with lyrics that were supported so beautifully by the melody, and that moved me and so a lot of the songs that move me, I don't want to say simple but they're simply elegant. They're easy access whether you're from India, or you're from Canada, or Yugoslavia or Australia, I think that it really does transcend borders and generations," said Buble of the accessibility of his music. "Call Me Irresponsible" also sees some collaborations, such as with Brazilian musician Ivan Lins and the American band Boyz II Men. It also reflects a lot of international influence with a bit of Bossa Nova and Samba sound in some songs. Throughout his career, Buble has often been compared to Sinatra, and when asked about how he felt about such comparisons, the musician replied that he does not pay attention to them because he feels that there can't be another Sinatra, just as there can't be another Buble. "I think it's a ridiculous comparison because there'll never be another Frank Sinatra, I mean there just won't be. I mean he worked his whole life and created a legacy for himself and he deserves to be called one of the greatest of all time, and I don't yet. I am going to work very hard and I'm going to do everything I can to be a credible artist who truly has respect for the history of the music and for the people who came before him, and opened the door for him, but there'll never be another Frank Sinatra, and I'm not the new Sinatra. But to be honest with you, I don't think there'll ever be another Michael Buble," said Buble. He asked rhetorically why people don't compare new rockers with Bob Dylan and added that he felt that it was a bit unfair that people tended to engage in a lot more slotting and categorizing when it came to the genre of music defined by Sinatra. Buble's own song in the album, "Everything" is partly inspired by his girlfriend, actress Emily Blunt. There were media reports recently that Buble announced his proposal to her through Hello! Magazine, but Buble denied that this was true and explained what really happened. "No, it's absolutely not true. I can tell you exactly what happened. The interviewer said to me - are you happy? and I said, sure I'm happy and they said are you in love, and I said sure I'm in love. So, they said - you're going to marry her one day, and I said - sure, I'll marry her one day, I hope. I mean what was I supposed to say -- no? Because then just more questions come and I just said, no, and I said one day, and then I made a joke about it, I said yeah, I'm asking her through the magazine, but of course I mean, no one in their right mind would ask the girl to marry them in a magazine. I think it would be a little in bad taste," said Buble. Buble plans to start touring with his new album soon and feels that a world tour is the best way to connect with his diverse audiences, because as he insists, he isn't just a studio production, he is for real.

ITN Source | May 17, 2007

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