The pros and cons of being Michael Bublé

LOS ANGELES — Michael Bublé turned up to a recent interview at the Sunset Marquis wearing crisp dark trousers, a freshly pressed dress shirt — and garish blue socks emblazoned with the smiling face of his 8-year-old son Noah.

"Look at how cute that dude is," said the never-less-than-natty Canadian singer, who explained that he'd received the pair from his wife as a Christmas gift. "The only thing I asked for was socks with my family's pictures on them."

It was a fitting (if unexpected) wardrobe choice for Bublé, 46, as he discussed his new album, "Higher," whose title track is based on a catchy vocal melody Noah came up with one night as the singer was overseeing bath time. "I'm putting shampoo in his hair and he busts out this thing," Bublé recalled. "I was like, 'Dude, bro — that's a good little hook!'"

For Bublé, the collaboration with his son — one of several originals on "Higher" to accompany his renditions of classics like "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me" and Willie Nelson's "Crazy" —