New York ? Even though “Mr. A-Z” is Jason Mraz’s follow-up to his successful debut album, in some ways he considers it his first – the first that totally reflects his artistic vision.

Mraz says 2002’s “Waiting for My Rocket to Come,” his major-label debut, reflects his lack of experience and the guidance from execs at his previous label: “(Before), I had just been born, really.”

“I was following their rules, and I hadn’t done anything at the company to prove my ideas,” says Mraz of Elektra Records. “The first album I was just bewildered like, ‘Oh, you do it like this?”‘

“Waiting for My Rocket to Come,” which contained the hit single “Remedy” (co-written by the pop-production powerhouse The Matrix), sold more than 1 million copies, catapulting the singer-songwriter from his guitar-strumming coffeehouse shows to headlining performances.

When Mraz started to think about his next project, Warner Music Group consolidated its labels and transferred some Elektra acts to Atlantic Records while dismissing top Elektra executives. With a new team at the helm, Mraz felt energized – and in control.

“There wasn’t anybody specifically watching over us, so we were able to pretty much say, ‘You give us the money, and we’ll go take care of it,”‘ says Mraz, sitting in the office of Atlantic Records President Julie Greenwald, his new boss.

“Right there, we had their trust, their faith. And based on my two years of touring the last album … I knew what I was getting myself into this time. I knew what the steps were.”

The album has a more polished, mature sound than his debut, and is more experimental – one song even features an operatic voice in the background.

But at the album’s core remains Mraz, songs about relationships and that wry sense of humor and wit that his fans have come to expect and enjoy (visitors to his Web site get an extra dose of it with regular, often hilarious updates to his online journal).