TORONTO - Michael Buble admits he has a tough time living in the moment and enjoying his success.
"Basically, for two years since that last record, 'It's Time,' came out, I spent every moment thinking about the next record because I can't just sit and rest on my laurels," the Vancouver crooner said in an interview in a downtown Toronto hotel room earlier this year.
"I think probably it's a fault. I can't enjoy it. I have to make sure that the next one's great. I don't want to fall, I don't want to lose ground. I don't appreciate things, I really don't. I don't smell the roses and it's a fault, you know, it's damaging at a certain point. But I think on the other side it's also, I guess, great because it keeps me motivated."
In the months leading up to Tuesday's release of his highly anticipated third studio album, "Call Me Irresponsible," the smooth balladeer said he was tossing and turning at night as he brainstormed for ways to build on his momentum that has won him high-profile fans such as Tony Bennett, among others.
"I was nervous about this record. We sold six million at the last one and I'll be devastated if this one doesn't do seven," Buble, 31, said wearing a suit jacket and jeans after what he described as a restless night of sleep.
"And with the record business going down the tube the way it is, people tell me that that's impossible. They say, 'Michael, to sell seven million records, it's just not going to happen,' and I refuse to believe that. I refuse to believe that."
Adding to his stress were the friendly arguments, the "great battles" as Buble called them, in the studio between himself and producers Humberto Gatica and David Foster, his longtime friend and collaborator.
"They had very strong ideas about, you know, 'We want you to do this song in this way,' and I know who I am. I mean, I really know who I am and what I want and I just said, 'No,"' said Buble, who has been singing professionally since he was 16 and recently won top male vocalist at Canada's National Jazz Awards.
"And there were fights like that where they would say, 'You're too big for your britches now. You don't listen and this and that,' and I'd say, 'Listen, guys, I love you to death and I respect you but I don't care. If I don't think that it's right, it ain't happening and that's it.' I would take a stand."
It seems the conflict was worth it though.
"Everything," the catchy Bob Rock-produced single from the 13-track album, had reporters buzzing during a sneak preview listening session in January. It also recently debuted at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S. - Buble's best Hot 100 showing to date.
Buble said his girlfriend, British actress Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada"), was "definitely" an inspiration for the song, one of two original tracks on the album.
The other original tune, "Lost," was co-written with Canadian songstress Jann Arden and "was based on my reality and emotionally what I was going through," said Buble, who started recording the tunes with an orchestra last September.
The rest of the new disc consists of jazz standards, including "The Best is Yet to Come," "I've Got the World on String," and the title track. There's also a cover of Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man," and a rendition of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight."
"Comin' Home Baby" features the harmonies of 1990s boy band Boyz II Men, who were "a huge part" of Buble's life while he was growing up, he said.
So what did they talk about during their recording sessions?
"We just traded war stories about going on tour and how stupid we were at the beginning," said the two-time Grammy-nominated singer, whose self-titled debut was released to much fanfare in 2003.
"We were laughing at each other because you know, you go through the thing where, 'God, there are girls!' you know, for the first time in your life that - 'Whoa, there are girls everywhere!' and this whole thing and you're indulging in you know, all these things, and booze and, you know, all this stuff."
Buble said his life is decidedly more subdued these days, though, consisting more of low-key dinners with Blunt and friends than of Hollywood parties.
Blunt might event join the Sinatra-style singer when he goes on tour this summer, he said.
"She comes on tour and I go on her movie sets and stuff and she loves it," said Buble, who recently declared that he wants to marry the Golden Globe winner.
"I mean, she literally gets dressed in her little PJs or jogging pants, stands by the side of the stage, has a couple glasses of wine, has a blast and sits there and watches and basically laughs at me. And then just before the show ends she runs on the bus and hides on the back of the bus and listens to the things that the girls say to me as I sign autographs."
