Album Review: John Mayer – The Search for Everything
2 min read
After touring with Dead Company for the better part of the last two years, future classic American blues singer-songwriter John Mayer glistens into the first half of 2017 with his seventh studio record titled The Search For Everything – a thoughtful collection of acoustic ballads and warming gems woven through Mayer’s raspy and smooth vocal aura.
The record doesn’t follow in a typical Mayer direction, instead, utilises folky snippets and dusty memories through soothing guitar work and lifting harmonies. This may come as a well-received gift by Mayer and Grateful Dead fans alike, as it succeeds in incorporating much of the Grateful Dead texture into the general harnessing of the record. Love on the Weekend touches the heart with deeper drum kicks and hazy chord grooves, as Emoji of a Wave opens a mystical portal into the fable-esque tale of modern love.
Helpless carries a more genuine Mayer overdrive, exploiting funky riffs, licks, dusty drum hovers and a hearty blues guitar solo. Rosie tempts the listener into a noble working of a psychedelic rock colourings and ska moments complete with horns and soft synth brushes. The record clings to an obvious American folk direction, most notably in the western gravity of Roll it on Home before the album closes out with You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me – a beatless exploration into the piano love moments tipped with a string section and Mayer’s intoxicating vocals and whistles.
The record is a quick reminder to Mayer fans that whatever the influence he may be channeling at the time, his love for adopting his style and channelling his prowess through musical history is a talent he can express time and time again.
