Pleasant But A Little Wishy-Washy
Jason Mraz is one of those acts who has been causing a bit of a fuss on the musical underground recently, his smooth, jazzy tones are perfect for the summer and his video blogs and online sessions seem to have garnered him a pretty big fanbase already.
'Lucky' has the flow of gentle Carribbean to its smooth tone with additional vocals from Colbie Caillat adding an extra richness, the tune lilts along carefree and utterly chilled. 'Live High' is a similar slow and chilled number with gentle guitars and the assertion that you should try to "live righteously" and some snatches of religious insight. 'Love For A Child' is also full of an abundance of positive messages, "What about taking this empty cup and filling it up with a little bit more innocence", luckily they're quite subtle and mixed between some other pretty imagery. 'Details In The Fabric' has a different feel as a soft and sorrowful ballad with delicate acoustic guitar backing; it's more the traditional singer/songwriter fare, something which is backed up by the cute pop number, 'It Kills Me', which features a few jazzy licks, but is ultimately about pop kicks.
There are some more funked up tunes with r'n'b beats like 'Butterfly' with its shimmering brass riffs; the fast-paced, rapped,
'The Dynamo of Volition' and the cool calypso tones of, 'Coyotes' with a groovy chanting chorus. Mraz's vocals are truly versatile, adopting a myriad of rich styles from soft singer/songwriter to a soulful ripple on, 'Only Human' with its moral discussion of mankind's mistakes.
'We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things' is an eclectic collection of cool, relaxed tunes with plenty of charisma and soul, if you like jazzy pop to lie back to on a summer's day, then this may be your kind of thing. It's perfect picnic in the park music, but unlikely to engage you that much further with so many similar smooth pop operators out there to choose from.