Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak's new 'Leave The Door Open' is 'an old school love song'
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak's new single "Leave The Door Open" is what everyone needed this Friday.
The duo dropped their smooth R&B track, complete with a music video, as new group Silk Sonic. Mars and .Paak's new single won't be their last either as Silk Sonic is set to debut an album "An Evening With Silk Sonic" later this year. The two have been teasing the release of the single in the week leading up it by sharing stills from "Leave The Door Open" to their respective Instagram accounts.
The collaboration was organic, Mars told Apple Music's Zane Lowe noting one of the songs on their upcoming album is one they started in 2017. Mars said he called .Paak on his birthday and told him to come to the studio to record and .Paak showed up drunk because, well, it was his 25th birthday.
"It snowballed. And it was like, well, want to come back tomorrow? And we kept coming up with music. It felt like why you fall in love with music in the first place. And jamming with your buddy… There’s no plan, just working out the parts and trying to excite each other," Mars said.
The new video opens with .Paak on the drums and Mars on the piano backed by a full band on bass, a conga drum and percussion instruments, all dressed in looks that give off a retro feel as they coo sweet nothings.
I'm sippin' wine (Sip, sip) in a robe (Drip, drip)
I look too good (Look too good)
To be alone (Woo, woo)
My house clean (House clean), my pool warm (Pool warm)
Just shaved, smooth like a newborn
We should be dancin', romancin'
In the east wing and the west wing
Of this mansion, what's happenin'
"Leave The Door Open" gives smooth, old school, love song vibes per Anita Baker, who would know a thing or two about a soulful romantic love song, and social media is here for it.
@Deeclectic tweeted: "oh okay.. this Bruno Mars and Pak (sic) is dope. such wholesome vibes."
Some fans were excited that Mars, who hasn't released an album since 2016's "24K Magic," returned with new music.
"BRUNO MARS IS BACK," tweeted @horandowney while another wrote they "missed" the singer.
Others are dubbing "Leave The Door Open" a song of the upcoming summer.
"Bruno Mars is about to have such a powerful hold on my summer experience," tweeted @vinn_ayy.
@HooliganArianna tweeted: "Bruno wasn’t playing when he said him and Andy poured their heart and souls into their songs."
The first Friday in March was a good day for music – not only did Mars and .Paak drop singles, but Drake, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas and Bebe Rexha decided March 5 would be their day to release new projects, too.
Drake
Drake, who's been working on his sixth studio album "Certified Lover Boy," teased fans with a three-track EP titled "Scary Hours 2," with features from Lil Baby and Rick Ross.
The EP is a follow up to his 2018 "Scary Hours" which included just two tracks: "God's Plan" and "Diplomatic Immunity." Though short, the Canadian artist did what needed to be done, at least according to social media's reactions.
@SimpliVivacious wrote: "Drake never misses. Its only 3 songs but definitely ??."
"Is Lemmon Pepper the greatest freestyle track ever? I mean, my God. Man doesn’t miss," tweeted Ariel Helwani about the track featuring rapper Rick Ross.
"Lemon Pepper" appeared to be a favorite among fans, who compared Ross and Drake's collaboration to Kobe and Shaq, in short: "undefeated."
"Drake’s verse on Lemon Pepper Freestyle will forever be on repeat," tweeted Mark Gunnels.
Justin Bieber
Bieber, who just announced his sixth studio album last week and had an audience of 4 million from his TikTok concert over Valentine's weekend, gave fans a treat by releasing single "Hold on," complete with a music video.
The "Hold On" video opens with Bieber riding fast on a motorcycle attempting to outrun the police sirens behind him: It appears Biebs has robbed a bank.
Twitter gave the "Holy" artist his praise by calling the new single a "masterpiece" and "incredible."
"All this drake talk but justin bieber don’t miss either," tweeted @downbadcardi.
Kelly Keegs tweeted: "JUSTIN BIEBER BACK IN THE BUILDING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN."
Selena Gomez
Gomez teamed up with DJ Snake for a Spanish English mashup single "Selfish Love" released Friday, along with an accompanying music video, and is expected to be on her upcoming EP "Revelación" out March 12.
In the new video, Gomez plays a hairdresser in a trippy, bizarre salon with clients coming in and out to get serviced.
Her album name translates to English as revelation, an act of revealing or communicating divine truth, similar to what Gomez is musically experiencing. The Texas native said she's exploring music in another language because she's "so, so proud of my heritage."
In January, Gomez, released single "De Una Vez," telling Apple Music's Zane Lowe she thinks she sings better in Spanish.
The bilingual jazzy, pop song "Selfish Love" was a hit with social media.
"Selfish Love by Selena Gomez and DJ Snake is an addictive song, it’s been on replay all day!" tweeted @creatorpamela.
Nick Jonas
Ahead of Jonas' "Spaceman" album release March 12, he released "This is Heaven" Friday. Jonas debuted the song live last week during his hosting gig on "SNL."
During an interview with Sirius XM Thursday, Jonas said "This is Heaven" was inspired by wife Priyanka Chopra Jonas, explaining that she was away in Germany filming for a project while he was in Los Angeles working on other things during the pandemic.
"When we finally were back together after this time apart, I went back in and wrote this song," Jonas said. "For me, it's obviously a romantic thing, but I think for anybody that listens to this song … it's really about that feeling of when we're going to do that first normal thing again, or when we're going to see that the friends and family we haven't seen in almost a year or beyond."
Contributing: Cydney Henderson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Drake, Justin Bieber, more drop new music