After 20 years, Philip Lawrence and Bruno Mars still can create magic. The songwriting and producing pair’s latest work — six songs on Mars’ nine-track album “The Romantic,” his first solo release since “24K Magic” in 2016 — includes the infectious beats and soaring vocals that Mars’ songs are known for. But a thundering brass section, Latin percussion, and sweeping orchestral movements usher in a new era of Mars’ music.
Lawrence, a 1992 Reitz Memorial High School graduate, began working with Mars in the late 2000s and quickly found success creating music for other artists. Mars’ solo work debuted in 2010, rocketing both to success that includes eight Grammy Awards for Lawrence.
Although Lawrence and his children, parents, and siblings now call Southern California home, they retain strong ties to their family in Evansville. Married to model and songwriter Louise Chantal since 2025 and the father of five children, Lawrence is balancing time in the studio and mentoring other songwriters with building a better home life in Los Angeles — but he says the success of another chart-topping album still tastes sweet.
“The Romantic” was released Feb. 27? How is the reception?
It seems that people are really loving the album and … embracing who Bruno, as an artist, is showing up as.
To start an album with an emotional, orchestral song like “Risk It All”? Bold move.
Dare I say, risky? [laughs] See what we did there? [laugh] Obviously there is a tremendous amount of thought that is put into the sequential order of these … That is how an album, and especially this one in particular, was meant to be heard. From beginning to end, we are trying to tell a story. And when we were thinking about the first song, typically it’s uptempo — usually the opposite of “Risk It All.” … But when we had written “Risk It All” and finished it, it felt like it was the show opener to the album.
What made it feel like an opener?
When you listen to the album, it has all of these elements. This, to me, feels like not only a love letter to these incredible musicians we’ve been surrounded by, it’s a love letter to our previous albums, from song structure to tempo to even some of the subject matter. I feel like every one of those albums before, you hear in this album with more Latin influences layered in. “Risk It All” has all of those elements in it. And when you think about “24K Magic” as a body of work, we wanted to reintroduce him as the 10 years of living, 10 years of touring, 10 years of life evolved version of himself, right away. We didn’t want to ease people into it. And I think “Risk It All,” with the horns right up front, the mariachi horns, immediately let you know, “Oh my goodness, wait, this ain’t what I thought it was going to be.” This is the world we are now in. Come join us, grab your maracas, and let’s go do a conga line.
What influences those Latin elements on this album?
Bruno’s half Puerto Rican on his dad’s side. His dad used to be a band leader and plays incredible congas and bongos — a very, very talented musician family, so I think it was inevitable. I think that it’s always been in the back of his mind, not only from a familial inspiration standpoint, but also from a live show standpoint. As the years have progressed, we’ve slowly added more and more bits to the band, and the most recent edition has been this incredible percussionist from Cuba.
Mars’ Las Vegas residency and club, The Pinky Ring, had some influence, too …
I think there has always been this challenge and desire to bring more of what we do live into the studio, because what we do live is such an extension of who we are and what we want people to feel. … So, to set up and prepare for The Pinky Ring, Bruno had this idea of there being live music. The Hooligans, our band, were rehearsing for weeks, and I think the band had never had that opportunity to rehearse anything outside of whatever we were performing and prepping for the show. So, there was this opportunity for them to play some of the greatest songs ever, and do it not in a stadium or an arena, but do it in a small room where they could hear each other. It’s just sort of like a time capsule from, like, the ’70s. And what was born out of that was almost like this elevated, evolved version of the band that started to sound almost like an album. That started to sound like an extension of what we do live, but its own thing: “Wait a minute, I think this might need to be translated into some original music.” That was kind of the inspiration behind really showcasing the band. We’ve always wanted to add orchestration and build out the production and songs before. But to your point, this is the first time that we’ve really gotten the entire band in and recorded it all live as if it’s a live performance on a record. I think the proof of concept was The Pinky Ring. And that’s how it happened!
You really can feel the live band, Las Vegas-style energy in “The Romantic”!
We’ve really kind of planted our flag in Vegas, and Bruno has his sight set on being a modern day Sammy Davis/Elvis, which is good. “Yes. Do that. Do more of that, please.” He wants to do it from the legacy standpoint of being an artist that can live alongside and exist in Vegas and not succumb to Vegas. You know, a lot of these giants like Sammy Davis and Elvis, these guys fell victim to what Vegas offers. (Bruno) wants to have a legacy in Vegas where there are nightclubs and shows and life as a part of Vegas. He wants to turn that on its head, and it seems to be working so far. He’s kind of pulling it off. [laughs]
After 20 years of songwriting, “I Just Might” was your first single to debut at No. 1.
If you debut at No. 1, it’s a thing. It’s one of those things that, again, it’s almost like writing any song. You never know how it’s going to be received. You can never predict any sort of chart success at all. You just have to believe enough in the energy and the idea you’re trying to put out in the world that resonates with you. It may resonate with other people. But there was urgency around what we were going to do next for Bruno, you know, outside of “APT.,” outside of “Die with a Smile,” on the heels of these massively successful songs. “What does Bruno himself sound like?”
You’ve chosen not to go on tour to support this album. You even demurred from performing with Bruno, Rose, and the Hooligans at the Grammys in February.
We had the conversation maybe a couple weeks before where I told him, and he got it. He understood and he said, “Hey, we ain’t going nowhere. We’re gonna be touring forever. Whenever you’re ready to come back, whenever things settle down, your spot is here.” You know, it was a hard conversation to have, but it was a healthy one. And definitely the right thing for right now.
Instead of touring, what will fill your time?
Lots of other things, but at the top of the list, being a dad. I had thought about this usual cycle that we do where we create this album, and then we take the next two to three years and tour all over the world. And my kids are getting older. My son’s in high school now, and he’s got two more years until he graduates. … so these are crucial years. And I know that if I were to look back on this time, having spent the majority of it touring, I might regret that. So I’m going to be here and more available not only to them, but I’m also pursuing some more songwriting. I’m doing more motivational speaking, executive speaking, sharing my story, doing podcasts … living with intention.
What’s one cool memory that you have from recording this album?
There was a time where Bruno was rehearsing the album day in and day out with the band before recording. And on their last day, he texted me and said, “Come to the studio and check it out.” And hearing the songs come to life with the horn section, the percussionists, and to see all of these guys that are like my brothers play this music that took us years to make for the first time … I’m in the booth, Bruno’s dad is next to me, and I cried. It was absolutely beautiful. And it was one of those moments that let me know that all the choices I made, if it led me to that moment, were the right choices.
