Know. – Jason Mraz

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ – 3.5/5 stars

Jason Mraz returns with a carefree celebration of love, life, and his career in music with pockets of goodness among a somewhat lackluster tracklist.

Great albums are often built on some sort of conflict, whether internal or external. Used as something to move the story of the album forward, conflict is a healthy addition to any album, because it allows for an immediate connection to be built between artist and listener through empathy, or even sympathy. However, that’s not to say a happy album can’t be good. The key to making an album that’s happy into one that’s powerful is connecting that happiness to some sort of theme.

After the heartthrob hit “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz slowly disappeared into irrelevancy, honing in on his artistry to prepare for a big return. In the promotion of this album, he revealed that this record would be happier than the ones before it, the album title Know. a play on words of his last album Yes! not only signifying a gain of knowledge and experience in the artist, but juxtaposing a denial of the conflict that he had often sung about before. The concept of conflict is virtually nonexistent on this album. The only resemblance of it is the rejection of the orthodox sulking about disappointments and mistakes in life, replaced by a bubbly Mraz frolicking without a worry.

For the most part, the songs on Know. are connected because each of them correspond to some sort of life lesson that Mraz has learned over the years. “Have It All” just might be one of the most beautiful and potent songs on the album because of its origin: it was inspired by a blessing that Mraz received from a monk in Myanmar when he traveled there. Transforming profound experiences like these into songs creates a surreal feeling for the listener, one of being right with the artist as they experience the event. The existential lamentation of the final song in the album, “Love Is Still the Answer,” a modern classic in the making, is another example of a very deep moral to the story to close the album out: the meaning of life is to love.

Though the tracks on the album are tied together because of their uniform sound, it’s often that that sound becomes monotonous, especially throughout the middle of the album. Songs like “No Plans” and “Sleeping To Dream,” though distinct in their message, are sonically similar enough that their meaning becomes convoluted. It’s difficult to see what the deeper meanings of songs are when their music is more of the same; it means that the music tells no unique story. For Mraz, most of the songs on this album feel like a generic jazzy pop-rock mixture that’s neither catchy or new.

On Know, Jason Mraz wanted to showcase everything that he’s learnt throughout his career with a collection of songs that each mean something unique to him. However, by making some songs sound too similar, he takes away from that message, albeit in some songs like “Have It All” he does what he hopes to do.