MANILA, Philippines - A few years ago, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz released an album that would change his life the multi-platinum best-selling We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The album featured the record-breaking I’m Yours, which surpassed 21 million sales worldwide and set a record for the longest-running song in the 51-year history of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart with 76 weeks on the chart.
The track earned Jason a Grammy Song of the Year and led to him being given the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s prestigious Hal David Starlight Award, which is presented to songwriters who have made a significant impact in the music industry with their original songs. In 2010, Jason garnered two Grammy wins to add to his long list of accomplishments, winning Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for Lucky, his duet with Colbie Caillat, from We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.
Though the album had a major effect on the public and the music industry, it had the biggest impact on Jason himself, propelling him to international stardom and creating a touring demand across the world — a sweet invitation for the socially-conscious and environmentally-minded artist whose mission is to celebrate music’s lasting power to inspire change and help others through global citizenship.
Jason spent 22 months on the road promoting We Sing, which followed on his previous studio albums, the 2002 debut Waiting For My Rocket To Come and 2005’s Mr. A-Z. “The tour was a blast and a whirlwind,” he says. “I got turned on to the power of the voice and the power of the melody, and it created this desire in me to do it again immediately. Being able to inspire people and take a very simple message globally gave me a preview of what that can do. I got home from the tour and thought, ‘How can I spread love to the world through this new platform that I have?’ That became my starting point for this new album.”
That album, Love Is A Four Letter Word, contains a heartfelt, uplifting collection that explores love’s ups and downs or as Jason puts it: “What one does in love to make it work, and what one does in love when it’s time to let go.”
Jason had been writing steadily, putting all of his experiences into song. He eventually pared down to the final 12 that appear on his fourth and new studio album, Love Is A Four Letter Word. Recorded at Hollywood’s legendary Sunset Sound with producer Joe Chiccarelli (White Stripes, Christina Perri, My Morning Jacket) and a line-up of all-star session musicians, the album’s clever arrangements and rich musical textures cushion the diamond-cut clarity of Jason’s pure tenor voice. “I feel like it showcases a variety of moods, from soulful baby-making jams, to colorful new-jazz, to love-fueled acoustic guitar-strokery, to rhythmic sunshine-pop,” Jason says. “And lyrically, I wanted the album to have a balance of the sacred and the silly because I want listeners to have both experiences. I want them to be able to go deep, but not get stuck there. I want them to have sunshine, but not get sunburned.”
What ties the songs together is their theme. “I had this vision that the album was going to be called Love and I was going to talk about love and share love in one way or another,” Jason says. “I thought it was going to be easy because everything I write comes from a place of love, whether it’s a new understanding of it, or a retelling of it, or a reawakening to it. But the more I looked at the subject, the more I realized that love almost can’t be defined and who am I to define it anyway? So I went on a journey to try to define the word and be an expression of it in the world.”
That journey led to the first single I Won’t Give Up, an emotional acoustic-driven declaration that has already connected with the public, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Songs chart and topping the iTunes’ Top Songs and Hot AC radio charts. “
Another movingly reflective moment is the hushed song of longing In Your Hands, as well as 93 Million Miles, in which Jason finds peace in the realization that you can feel at home in the world no matter where you are.
Fans of Jason’s upbeat, groove-fueled work will appreciate Everything is Sound which Jason says was inspired by his love for Kirtan — a form of devotional call-and-response group singing in Sanskrit. “I had been going to several Kirtans around L.A. and wanted to write something with a bit of a chant in it so that people could just lose themselves a bit,” he says. “I like the idea of sneaking some of that Hallelujah into contemporary pop music.”
Other highlights include the breezy Living In The Moment, the earthy story-song Frank D Fixer (inspired by Jason’s grandfather) and the album’s horn-driven opener The Freedom Song, which was written by Seattle singer-songwriter Luc Reynaud.
During Jason’s 2010 trip to Ghana to work with anti-slavery organization Free the Slaves, he sang The Freedom Song at a school whose many students are former child slaves. The group had adopted it as its theme song.
It’s that crossroads where music, love, hope and giving back intersect that makes it all meaningful for Jason, a dedicated surfer, cyclist, yogi and activist. Among his advocacies are Surfrider Foundation, Free the Slaves and the True Colors Fund, as well as VHI’s Save the Music, Free the Children, SPARC, (that School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community), MusiCares and Life Rolls On.
He recently established the Jason Mraz Foundation to help sustain organizations aligned with his pillars of service, including working to end human trafficking, fighting for environment preservation and advocating for the arts and education.
“My mission is simple: It’s to shine a light through music, which can easily be applied to why I sing these songs,” Jason says. “Often times that light is on the very obvious subject of love. This album represents my view of the world and the realization that I am an important part of it in how the choices I make affect other people. But a little bit of love goes a long way, especially on a planet crowded with individuals struggling with seven billion different versions of human triumph and human suffering. When I remember to simply enjoy being where I am, it makes a world of difference.”
Jason Mraz’s Love Is A Four Letter Word is out now released by Warner Music Philippines.