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No one is more aware of what people think of John Mayer than John Mayer himself. The title of his eighth studio album acknowledges past accusations of sad boy mockery. The muted pastels of the return cover, complemented by a simulation of the “Nice Price” sticker that Columbia Records used to slap their bargain-priced LPs, challenge you to call it a stylish and dated studio-rock supplier.
Is this self-mockery? A blow against the critics? Regardless, the self-awareness of the packaging is notably absent from Mayer’s music itself. He may appear flippant in interviews, but he’s either blessed or cursed for being unable to keep any ironic distance from his material, so what may seem like genre exercises of a flashier performer sound as sincere as the journal entries. The guy can’t even sing a cliché like “the road keeps rolling forever” without sincerity.
Mayer is a crafty craftsman and virtuoso chameleon on guitar, adept at imitating disparate styles. A booming drum intro heralds the main track, “Last Train Home,” which feels like a historical re-creation of a forgotten ’80s soundtrack, complemented by some period-appropriate Eric Clapton guitar bursts. Veteran Chicago hip-hop producer No ID collaborates with him on the elegant pop-funk of “New Light.” And on the disillusioned “I Guess I Just Feel Like,” Mayer performs solo with the Jerry Garcia tone that earned him his touring job with the Grateful Dead.
Mayer has assembled chic accomplices for under the rock. Producer Don Was made a name for himself in the ’80s and’ 90s helping middle-aged rockers like Bonnie Raitt and the Stones adapt to contemporary styles without going overboard. Clever country-pop pioneer Maren Morris brings appropriate harmonies. And as the Session Men go, his main touring band, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Aaron Sterling, and Greg Phillinganes, the keyboardist who has appeared on both. Polar and Songs in the Key of Life, are the cream of the crop.
Lyrically, Mayer can be bitter, complaining “You should have been sad instead of being so mean” about “It shouldn’t matter but it does”, or philosophical, joking “Hurt me once I let him do it / Hurt me twice you ‘re dead to Me / Three times make you family “on the unfortunately titled” Why You No Love Me “, or even full of hope on” Til the Right One Comes “. But uniting these different moods and the different styles that Mayer mingles with is the effortless warmth of her voice, which never puts too much weight behind her grief or happiness. He sings like a man who knows his place in the world.
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