The Buzz About … JOHN MAYER Spotlight on … MALLA NUNN
HIS LOVE LIFE OFTEN TAKES CENTRE STAGE, BUT THIS ARTIST CONTINUES TO MAKE MUSIC THE AUTHOR DISHES ON HER SWEET NEW COMING OF AGE NOVEL
The last time John Mayer put out new music, it was 2017 and the world was a very di erent place. But rather than release new material in 2021 that was heavy, serious and re ective of the current times, the singer instead says his new album Sob Rock is the more lighthearted equivalent to “s--tposting” on the internet.
“What I would love other people to understand is that there is no more reason to have to adhere to any given idea of cool,” Mayer recently told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. The ‘Your Body Is A Wonderland’ hitmaker was referring to a comment made at the start of his career, when he was told his music was “not what’s hot”. With the focus often centred on his good looks and A-list relationships with Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson and Taylor Swift, his talents as a singer-songwriter weren’t taken seriously. Now, eight albums in, Mayer’s feeling freer and cares less what critics and trolls have to say .
The 43-year-old took a di erent approach with his new album, which features singles ‘Shot In The Dark’ and ‘Last Train Home’, channelling his creativity into making music that was in some way “provocative”. “It’s what I thought was a s--tpost. And this gets down to where artists sit in front of you and play you what they think is their garbage,” he said. “And you go, ‘That’s the best thing I ever heard you play.’ lt breaks the mould and [helps you] makes something unique.”
Despite his success though, Mayer is determined not to churn out tracks that sound the same. “I’m only interested if I get to put new paints on the canvas,” he told Lowe.
“[With this album,] I pretended to be someone who made a record in 1988 and shelved it and then I just found it again this year.”
(Out now)
Malla Nunn didn’t have to look very far for inspiration for her new novel. “The inspiration for Sugar Town Queens comes from moments when I’ve wondered what my life might have been like if my parents had stayed in southern Africa instead of migrating to Australia,” she explains to WHO. “In those ‘What if?’ moments, I imagine a life of poverty but also remember the community of friends and relatives that I grew up in – much like the one in Sugar Town Queens.”
The book, about a young teen searching for answers, is a stunning portrait of a divided family and a powerful story of how friendship saves and heals. And Nunn admits her 15-year-old character is the ultimate protagonist. “Amandla, my main character, is on the bridge from girlhood to adulthood and that’s what makes her experiences so special,” she tells. (Out now)