JOHN MAYER

SOB ROCK Columbia 9/10

It hasn’t escaped the notice of the internet population that the word ‘Sob’ looks like ‘80s’ when viewed upside down. Whether this is a coincidence or intentional on Mayer’s part we may never know, but it’s the 1980s (and a little bit of 90s added in for good measure) that sets the theme for this, his first release since 2017’s The Search For Everything. The track that opens the album, Last Train Home gives the game away straight away, as it conjures up the sounds of Clapton’s August and Journeyman albums from the Soldano stained guitar tones, gated drums and Greg Phillinganes’ (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder) yesteryear synth sounds. It’s an album about love

gone bad that Mayer insists is, “Sweet but never sappy… never to the point where it gets cloying and syrupy. I like to teeter on that line.” As you might expect from a multiple Grammy winner, the album’s production is slickness personified, the songs hanging around in your head for hours after listening. One parlour game we played during our first listening was to trace each song’s sonic ancestry – we’ve already mentioned Clapton, but check out Wild Blue’s tip of the hat to Mark Knopfler in the guitar solo. While we’re on the subject of the guitar playing, it’s hard to tell if Mayer has fired up his iconic black Strat or whether he is using the PRS Silver Sky he’s seen holding on the cover. Whatever the answer, crystal clear Strat-alike tones are the order of the day – and they’re in the hands of a modern master. [DM]