The Romantic Review

Nine songs, thirty one minutes, and not a second of it badly made. Mars and D'Mile assemble a love letter to late seventies and early eighties soul with the precision they brought to Silk Sonic: real strings, unhurried tempos, backing vocals arranged the old way, and a lead vocal that remains one of the most controlled instruments in pop.

Reviewers agree on the singing and on the sound. They also agree, with unusual consistency, on the problem. The songs reach for romance without ever naming a person, a night or an argument, so the record works as beautifully upholstered pastiche of albums that had something at stake. That is why the writing grade sits so far under the sound: critics who enjoyed the album still faulted the songwriting as coasting on homage, and those who did not enjoy it went further and called the whole exercise preservation rather than creation.

The brevity helps and the first three tracks are genuinely lovely. After that it begins repeating its own gestures, and the shortest album of his career still feels long. Put it on at a dinner party and it will do precisely what you want. Ask it for anything more and it has nothing to say.