I come bearing very exciting news for Jason Mraz fans. The wickedly talented artist also known as Mr. A-Z is releasing his fifth studio album this summer! This will likely come as a surprise to his fanbase because in the past Mraz typically took 3 to 4 years to release new collections of material and it’s only been a little over 2 years since his last major release Love is a Four Letter Word.

Jason’s new album is titled YES! and it’s a very special release because it serves as a collaboration between himself and indie pop-rock-folk all-women band Raining Jane. The Sacramento Bee has the full scoop on the collaboration, but in a nutshell it goes like this:  Raising Jane is a band featuring four talented ladies: Mona Tavakoli on percussion, Mai Bloomfield on guitar and cello, Becky Gebhardt on bass and sitar, and Chaska Potter on guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and glockenspiel. Raining Jane opened for Mraz in 2007 at a show in SoCal and he was immediately impressed by their musicality. They began writing music together that year; they co-wrote a total of 50 songs, 15 were recorded, and 12 in all will be included in YES!. You can preview Raining Jane’s music at their YouTube channel. You may recognize enthusiastic drummer Mona Tavakoli (on Jason’s immediate right in the photo above); she’s toured with Mraz for the last two years. Following the release of YES! Jason and the girls of Raining Jane will go on a brand new tour together.

So what do we know about the new album so far? Jason’s been unveiling details piecemeal on his website; every day something new is unlocked. 5 of 7 locks have been cracked and they’ve included the name of album 5, possibly the album cover featuring five birds in flight, the 14-song track list*, and hand-written lyrics for one of the tracks titled “Love Someone” which may end up being the album’s lead single.

Head over to Jason’s YouTube channel to get a taste of YES! as we wait for the final two locks to open up; perhaps a preview of the single and a firm release date are coming soon.

*According to the SacBee 15 tracks in total were recorded by Jason and Jane; here’s hoping that the missing song not included in the tracklist ends up releasing as a bonus track!

Update: Called it! Jump after the break to hear Jason’s brand new single “Love Someone;” in addition to the standard audio track you’ll also get to experience a live performance of the song performed by Jason and Raining Jane from The Om Studio at Mraz’s very own Organics’ Avocado Ranch. YES!, an album “containing songs about love, friendship, healing, hope, and consciousness” is out July 15. If you preorder the album today at iTunes you’ll receive a new song every Monday leading up to release day. Has anyone coined the term “Mraz Monday” yet? In a blog post Mraz also commented on tour plans: “We’ll be touring across the U.S. later this summer before heading to Europe, Asia, and Australia in the fall and South America in 2015.” Continue reading Jason Mraz readies fifth studio album ‘YES!’ →