Michael Bublé

The 2000s brought several new approaches to music for adult listeners. Some performers folded classical elements into pop and rock; others returned to the popular standards of an earlier generation. Michael Bublé belongs to the latter tradition, with a voice and manner particularly indebted to Frank Sinatra.

David Foster recognised the Canadian singer’s talent and produced this 2003 major-label debut. George Michael’s ‘Kissing a Fool’ and Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ sit alongside older material, each sung with easy control and dressed in a modern arrangement.

The record’s enormous international success showed that a polished young singer could make this tradition attractive to a contemporary audience. The later success of Crazy Love would expand that audience further, but the mixture of confidence, elegance and approachable charm is already fully established here.