Go get it. Seriously, do it. Before Jason Mraz released his last album “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things”, he released EPs previewing live versions of some of the new tracks on the full length LP. For hardcore Jason Mraz fans, this was a welcomed tease. We all can pick that one artist or group that we cannot wait for new material from. We could get a new CD and want more after about a week of listening – not that the music was bad, but just because we cannot get enough. When I first discovered Jason Mraz 437,234 years ago, I would log into archive.org and find every live Jason Mraz concert available (legal) and download those suckers to my computer. This would be my fix between the concerts that I would make my way to (about 10 in total). I miss the days of legally fan-recorded shows. Has anyone seen people set up microphones and recording equipment at the House of Blues lately? Let’s bring those days back.
Anyway, today (February 28, 2012) Jason Mraz released his first EP prior to the release of his new album “Love is a Four Letter Word”. This EP is a digital release and contains four live tracks. From the looks of it, at least two of the tracks will appear as studio versions on the LP in April. Apparently Jason has been on a journey since his last studio album — from the sounds of it — it was enlightening.
- The World As I See It (Live)
- You F**king Did It (Live)
- The Woman I Love (Live)
- I Never Knew You (Live)
This EP is familiar. It is Jason Mraz being Jason Mraz. Long time fans will feel the comfort of Jason returning to his roots and sounding refreshed and out of the major label feel. I guess what I am trying to say is that these tracks sound organic and not commercial. Don’t get me wrong, I love commercial pop, but I much prefer Jason Mraz like this.
“The World as I See it” gives the listener a feel for what Jason is like in concert. There are moments of interacting with the crowd, moments of just instruments, and some comedy to boot. Oh, lets not forget the “love the world and what it offers” feel of the song.
“You Fckng Did It” is an updated, tongue-in-cheek “Wordplay”. We all love Jason Mraz’ musical stylings. This is one of his songs that I’ll never be able to memorize because I’m not that stylistically cool. A little “Geek in Pink” for ya.
“The Woman I Love” is one that I should be memorizing because I am sure I could attempt to make some hearts melt by singing it. For those on team Tristan, you will always have some hate, but Jason Mraz feels authentic here. So lets just agree that something didn’t work. There is no denying that Jason feels his lyrics. Just sayin’
“I Never Knew You” starts out with the comedic feeling of the live shows. A little musical spasm, if you will, followed up by a Vh1 Storytellers feeling. He asks why is it that we always want to remember those pieces of the past that maybe we should forget.
So, basically what I am saying is, go get it. Here is the link -
