The Search for Everything - Wave One
Recommended for:
Fans of soft blues jams
John Mayer fanboys
People that think John Mayer is still relevant
Pros:
Well structured
Mayer’s guitar tone
Cons:
Not influential
Seems redundant, when considering his body of work
Boring
“Moving on, and getting over” is how John Mayer lyrically opens his new EP, The Search for Everything - Wave One; I wish such a line is indicative of his current state as an artist.
John Mayer does not matter anymore. Well, that’s a bit harsh. How about: John Mayer is no longer influential. I do not mean to say that his music is bad. But I do want to get across how much I don’t care anymore (about John Mayer). Pop music is fad-driven. There is a macro sense of popular music in America. Though my tastes may not align with artists such as KISS, I can respect their (limited) contributions to American popular music in a big-picture sense. They were influential.
Now to Mayer. Yes, he is still a high quality performer and musician. This being said, he has stopped evolving as an artist. In developing this piece, I flipped John’s more recent works. The guy makes solid music. However, his new music doesn’t go anywhere new. At John Mayer’s peak, I would certainly have called him influential. When developing as a young artist between 2000 and 2006, his smooth interpretation of blues and acoustic pop was relevant to the larger state of popular music. Nowadays, Mayer is not offering anything new. I doubt that when we look back on his career, many years down the line, we will think, “Wow! That song released in 2017 really impacted the music of that day.” However, you might say something similar about his earlier career.
Now, let’s walk through the album. I will start with this: I do not play guitar. I am not going to pretend to understand everything there is to know about the instrument either. However, John Mayer’s tone as a musician is very pure. When listening to John Mayer, you feel that he is a guitarist before a vocalist. That is not to say that he is not up to par vocally, but rather his guitar playing is the most buttery part of his music. So, what do I think about his voice? - eh. I am not particularly a fan of his vocal tone. I can appreciate that he wants to sing his music himself, and he certainly hits the notes. But if his music were to feature another vocalist, I might be more interested. But if you like his voice, flip the EP. It is short and sweet (14 minutes). To finish things off here, listen to this EP if your taste lines up with Mayer’s other works. If you are looking for something intriguing or relevant to music, don’t waste your time.
Favorite Song: “Moving On and Getting Over”
6.3/10
