Grammy Award-winning troubadour Jason Mraz has announced details of his hugely anticipated new album, LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD – set for release on April 16, 2012.
LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD, which includes the heartfelt hit single, ‘I Won’t Give Up’, is produced by Joe Chiccarelli (The White Stripes, Christina Perri, Young The Giant) and marks Mraz’s finest, most fully realised collection to date. Fueled by magnificently textured arrangements and distinctive vocal landscapes, the album is Mraz’s fourth studio release and first new collection since 2008’s WE SING. WE DANCE. WE STEAL THINGS.
“It’s personal. It’s melodic. And it’s mellow,” says Mraz. “There’s a couple of up-tempo tunes, but mostly the rhythm-of-the-heartbeat kind of takes precedence on this record. It feels more like the pace of life. At least, based on my life and what I’ve been doing.”
Mraz heralded LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD yesterday (NZ time) with a very special Valentine’s Day live-streamed performance. Presented by YouTube, the event saw the singer performing some of his favorite love songs including “I Won’t Give Up” – live from YouTube’s New York City offices.
Unveiled with little fanfare via a lyric video on Mraz’s official website, ‘I Won’t Give Up’ earned immediate love and praise from an array of famous names – including Ellen DeGeneres, Colbie Callait, Rob Thomas, Perez Hilton, and Lady Antebellum, all of whom took to their Twitter feeds to tweet about the track. The lyric video has since received nearly 8 million individual views at Mraz’s official YouTube channel, and the official video for the track, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mark Pellington (Bruce Springsteen, U2, Pearl Jam) will be premiered this Friday.
Mraz recently announced the establishment of the Jason Mraz Foundation, devoted to supporting a number of charities for which he has been a dedicated and impassioned advocate. Mraz created the Foundation www.jasonmraz.com/foundation to sustain organisations aligned with his four pillars of service: human equality, environment preservation, arts and education, and recovery and assistance.