After nearly 20 years as a hitmaker on Billboard’s charts — including four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 — what did Michael Bublé learn about himself while making his new studio album Higher?
“Honestly, I think I learned to let go a little bit,” the Canadian singer/songwriter tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen to his full interview below) about the new set, out on March 25.
“I have spent 20 years micromanaging, producing and manicuring every single note and sound that has come out of my mouth or out of the studio onto an album,” but he says, early on the process of making the album, his longtime collaborator Alan Chang suggested to him, as Bublé recalls, “What would you think of letting go a little bit and giving your audience a really fresh take on what you do?”
Chang suggested Bublé work with writers and producers he hadn’t worked with before – like Grammy Award-winner Greg Wells, who ended up producing seven of the album’s 13 songs. (Chang himself produces Bublé’s new cover of the pop standard “Smile,” which closes the album.) Another first-time Bublé collaborator, three-time Grammy-winner Ryan Tedder, turns up on the set, co-writing its title track. Meanwhile, none other than Sir Paul McCartney produces Bublé’s cover of McCartney’s own 2012 tune “My Valentine.”
“The record… it was always a labor of love,” Bublé says of the album, “but together we all made the greatest record of my lifetime. And what I learned was that I didn’t just do something that I think is going to be a fresh sound for the audience; it turned out being fresh for me. And I think that was a big surprise — it’s just really fresh for me… and I think much needed.”
Higher boasts three new original tunes co-written by Bublé – including the current Adult Contemporary chart hit “I’ll Never Not Love You.” One of those three tunes, the title track, came to life thanks to an unlikely source: Bublé’s young son Noah.
Bublé says he was brainstorming song ideas with Tedder and Wells one day, and out of the blue, Bublé had a thought. He recalls telling Tedder and Wells, “‘Hey guys, you’re gonna think I’m crazy, but a few months ago when I was giving the kids a shower, my 8-year-old sang this hook.’ And I sang, ‘When you go low, and I go high…’ And Tedder looked up at me, and Greg looked up at me, and they went, ‘What’s that?’ And within about 35 minutes, I had turned an idea that had come from the head of an 8-year-old kid into one of the great songs that I’ve ever written.” (And if you’re wondering, Bublé confirms that his son is indeed a credited co-writer on the track.)
“It’s amazing that so much of the inspiration of this record stemmed from my family — from how I feel about my wife [Luisana Lopilato] and what we’ve been through with our kids,” Buble says. His son Noah was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2016 but has been in remission since 2017 following chemotherapy and radiotherapy. “It was impossible for it to not become something that really… Listen, I’m a happy man. My family’s healthy and I’m just really grateful. I’m just really grateful. I come with an attitude of gratitude, as cheesy as that might sound.”
Higher also includes covers of familiar classics, like Willie Nelson’s “Crazy,” with Nelson himself as a duet partner; Barry White’s “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” (which Bublé says channels Elvis Presley’s rollicking “Burning Love”); and Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.”
Of the McCartney collaboration, Bublé says that the idea to cover “My Valentine” came from McCartney himself, who suggested the concept after he heard Bublé was working on a new album. Bublé was keen on the cover, and sent McCartney a demo recording and asked if McCartney could help out and produce the track for him. Ultimately, the final version of the song was bolstered by an orchestra.
“He walked in [to the studio] and he was incredible,” Bublé says of working with McCartney. “He really fostered the love of the song that we both had. He helped us to make sure that the performance was as rich and detailed as we both hoped it would be. I think he lifted everyone up in that room — those hundreds of musicians. I think everyone just played better than they ever had before. It’s magic.
“To be honest I just really wanted Sir Paul to know that I hadn’t asked him to be part of this for all the things he’s done. I asked him to be part of this for what he can do. If we don’t know by now, he is truly one of the greatest musicians, producers, writers our world has ever seen. And so you can imagine how much it meant to me that he would trust me enough to trust me with his art. It was mind-blowing for me.”
After the release of Higher, Bublé will bring the new music to the masses, performing a six-night engagement at The Theatre at Resorts World in Las Vegas (from April 27-May 7) and then heading to the U.K. and South America for a string of dates in July and November.
As for what to expect on the road from Bublé, it’s simple: “I just try to take ’em away and spread some goodness, you know? That’s it. I can’t wait to be out there.
“Listen, the people behind me (his touring crew/band) are my family. I’ve got people I’ve now toured with for 20 years and they’re my brothers and sisters. And I have a crew that I’ve been with — the same crew — 20 years. The same people. It is the same people I started with. And so the fact that I have this army behind me that I happen to be in love with is a joy. And then the fact that I get to go and bring that army to stand up in front of thousands and thousands of people who are souls that I’m so excited to connect to again. Listen, I think I need the therapy as much as they might.
“We’ve all gone through a ton, and I think the strongest of us have realized how vulnerable our mental health is, and even if I can only take moments to take people away and to bring them to a better place, then I’m pretty happy to do it.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s deputy editor, digital, Katie Atkinson and senior director of Billboard charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)