John Mayer has enjoyed the best of all possible musical worlds since
debuting with 2001’s Room for Squares. His early success as a
sensitive singer-songwriter led to platinum sales and Grammy wins, but
the Berklee-schooled guitarist soon tired of the pop treadmill and
began dabbling in hip-hop and jazz, and eventually assembled the John
Mayer Trio to explore his inner electric-blues child. Over the past
three years, Mayer’s dating activities have been given nearly as much
attention as his music, so it may come as little surprise that the
focus of his new album, Battle Studies, is heartbreak in its
various and sundry forms.
Given the subject, it’s natural that Mayer should lean more toward
his pop side, even though the Trio (which also includes bassist Pino
Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan) plays on Battle Studies. There are moments when Mayer’s edge shines through, like on the
melancholy yet upbeat “Perfectly Lonely” and the Mark Knopfler-tinged
“Half of My Heart.” And Mayer leavens his blues with plenty of the
soulful pop he’s perfected from the start (“All We Ever Do Is Say
Goodbye,” “Friends, Lovers or Nothing”). Mayer has his detractors, but
Battle Studies shows a potent and engaging diversity in his
pop/blues translation.
— Brian Baker
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.
