I Feel Like Dancing

Album: Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride (2023)
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Songfacts®:

  • Despite having an album in his repertoire titled We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. (2008), Jason Mraz never really explored the dance genre until he recorded his 2023 pop-disco album, Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride. Its lead single, "I Feel Like Dancing," finds the singer alleviating his anxieties by busting a move.

    "It's not trying to save the world," Mraz said of the song in a 2023 Songfacts interview. "It's just trying to bring a little dance and movement and rhythm into it."
  • Mystical Magical Rhythmical Radical Ride dropped on June 23, 2023 - Mraz's 46th birthday. His thoughts about growing older permeate the album, including "I Feel Like Dancing."

    "Songs appear out of a real necessity, and this song appeared as I struggled with identity and self-worth in my mid-40s," Mraz told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "And I have to truly dance like no one's watching."
  • Mraz wrote the songs on the album with his backing band, the all-female folk-rock group Raining Jane, whom he started working with after they served as his opening act back in 2006.
  • Mraz reunited with his We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. producer, Martin Terefe, on this album. Terefe reached out to the singer to offer him use of his new studio in New York City, and Mraz jumped at the opportunity to work with the producer again and soak up inspiration from the Big Apple.

    "To me that just seemed very exciting," Mraz told ABC Audio. "To take our ideas to New York and have a brand new experience influenced by the city, the pace of the city, the energy, the rhythms of the city. And also, with Martin's guidance, he could really challenge us to try new things and help our songs get to that more dancey, more pop place."
  • The album's disco-dance vibe was also influenced by a hobby Mraz picked up during the pandemic: roller skating.

    "I got some roller skates. Luckily in SoCal, we have some outdoor rinks," he explained. "And so thanks to skating, I got turned back on to sort of the disco culture, and I was able to bring some of that skate energy into this album. I would occasionally land on something and thought, 'Ooh, this would be good to skate to.'"
  • This became popular with TikTokers, who used the tune to show off their dance skills on the platform. Video creators like Gianna Marie, Nick Kosir (The Dancing Weatherman), and Josh Helfgott also appeared in the music video. Directed by Taylor James (MUNA), the one-shot promo follows Mraz dancing his way through the Via Verde Country Club in San Dimas, California, and taking over a wedding reception with his groove.
  • Mraz wanted to stay away from electronic dance music that relied on computer programs and drum machines. "I wanted to make human dance music," he told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "So, sonically, that's what our effort was. And thematically, I noticed that what was missing from my shows - year after year - was that I didn't have enough up-tempo songs that could turn the show into a dance party for my audience and myself."

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