Jason Mraz

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. appeared in 2008, bringing “I’m Yours”, “Lucky”, “Make It Mine” and “Butterfly” into the same album. The familiar acoustic ease is only part of the picture. “Butterfly” gives the rhythmic and playful side more room, while “Lucky”, with Colbie Caillat, depends on the balance between two clearly defined voices.

The album is unusually useful for understanding how the singing works. Mraz can treat a line as a rhythmic pattern, then let it unfold into a much broader melody. The supporting musicians keep enough space in the arrangement for those changes of pace to register.

Love Is a Four Letter Word followed in 2012, with “I Won’t Give Up” placing a more patient kind of delivery in the foreground. Produced by Joe Chiccarelli, the record gives the songs a wider instrumental frame while keeping the vocal close enough for a small change in emphasis to matter.

The contrast with the quicker, more playful material is part of Mraz’s appeal. Verbal dexterity is one tool among several, and a relatively plain line can be equally effective when the song asks for it. The warmth of the records comes from that judgement: knowing when to keep the phrase moving and when to stop making it clever, allowing the melody to carry the thought at its own pace.