From Departing to Singing, Dancing, and Stealing Things

I had originally planned to post a review of Jesse McCartney’s new album Departure. I wrote a play by play of every track and selected my favorites. A couple hours later I said, “F this!” I had been playing the first four songs of Jason Mraz’s We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. on repeat, and I couldn’t get them out of my head.

While McCartney makes an attempt at Justin Timberlake-esque sex pop, the album is more of a lackluster Chris Brown album. The first single “Leavin” is good. It’s catchy and appeals to an audience ranging from teenyboppers to twenty-somethings and over. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the album. As a mass communications major, I tried to figure out which audience Departure attempted to target, but I’m still unsure.

Although McCartney’s vocals are solid for the most part, there are too many highs and lows in tempo and song quality. McCartney should have spent more time perfecting his album than perfecting his J Date profile. It’s almost hard to believe that this is the same person who wrote Leona Lewis’ knockout debut single “Bleeding Love.”

Zac Efron, you have nothing to worry about. You will not be dethroned as king of the teenyboppers.

If you would still like to support J Mac’s 3rd album, the best tracks to download are “Leavin,” “Make Up,” “Relapse,” and “Not Your Enemy.”

Now on to the more mature sounding J.M. …

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. has great summer energy. Unlike Departure, it’s well put together. Mraz blends elements of pop, jazz, soul, funk, rock, and trace elements of Jamiroquai-esque dance seamlessly on his 3rd studio album. You can’t help but sing along, dance, and smile as Mraz steals your heart track after track.

Mraz’s vocals are perfect. They’re as breezy and soothing as the music in each song.

The first single “I’m Yours” has been a big hit since 2005. “Lucky,” a duet featuring “Bubbly” singer Colbie Caillat, has also been the subject of online buzz in recent weeks. Hopefully that will soon be a single. It’s the perfect song for a summer beach wedding (in case you’re still looking for one).

Mraz’s sound has definitely evolved over the years. He may be a geek in the pink no more, but he still has the remedy for the perfect summer soundtrack.

For more Mraz, catch him on a worldwide tour throughout the summer.

Top Tracks: Sorry, don’t have any. Guess you’ll have to buy the whole thing. Worth every penny, trust me! ;-D