Album Review: Jason Mraz Love Is A Four Letter Word

Love Is A Four Letter Word is much more light-hearted and accessible, but also far more cautious, than Jason Mraz's previous records. While it conspicuously lacks Mraz's typical cynical lyricism and unusual guitar lines, the album is instead an impressive collection of perfectly constructed pop songs, all of which are infectious in their simplicity.

The Freedom Song opens with a powerful, smooth vocal line, further complemented by an interesting melody and by the introduction of an upbeat, reggae instrumental section – that makes for a very catchy opening track. This promising introduction is unfortunately cut short by the following track, The Woman I Love, whose lyricism and instrumental lines are less poignant and altogether less interesting than the foregoing track that unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the record. The album's lead single, I Won't Give Up, while certainly catchy and flawlessly constructed, feels somewhat contrived and overproduced.

A taste of Mraz's original, darker, and more inquisitive vocal and instrumental content presents itself in 5/6, as the syncopated drum line, deeper vocals and darker lyricism makes for a refreshing change to the previous tone of the album. These experimental instrumental lines make an appearance again in Be Honest, but the lyrical content here is again simple and underwhelming. The record closes with The World As I See It, which again is fairly simplistic but is a standout in terms of its production quality and smoothness of sound and as a result is certainly one of the catchiest songs on the album. A perfect choice of closer, this song embodies all the triumphs of this album in terms of establishing itself as a catchy, well-constructed pop record, even though it is at times slightly repetitive and mildly disappointing.