Mario Announces First Album in 6 Years With ‘Glad You Came’

After delivering an appetizer of a single with his record “Space,” Mario is ready to unveil the entree with his forthcoming album Glad You Came. Releasing Dec. 13 via New Citizen/Epic Records, Mario enlisted songwriter extraordinaire James Fauntleroy as the project’s executive producer.

“My successes and failures in the department of love and my imagination are what helped me to create this body of work,” Mario exclusively tells Billboard. “I had the pleasure of creating alongside James Fauntleroy, who executive-produced this project and wrote multiple songs with me. We have the same mission in our hearts of helping to preserve the art form.”

“Being able to create new textures and ways to invite intimacy and imagination back into R&B, Glad You Came embodies the very essence of the quality of classic R&B and retro-futuristic sound that can be played in any space,” he continues. “There’s a level of vulnerability and confidence that permeates this serving.”

Glad You Came will be Mario’s first album in six years and his first with Epic Records. The singer recently performed at Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday tour stop in Los Angeles, where he rattled off his R&B classic “Let Me Love You.” Shortly after, he served as a surprise guest in Toronto at Nostalgia for Drake, where he performed a medley of hits. Next year, he’ll join Mary J. Blige’s The For My Fans Tour alongside Ne-Yo. The tour will begin in January.

Check out the trailer for Glad You Came here. You can view the official album art below.