The singer-songwriter is better than ever in his recently released four-track EP which promises of bigger, exciting things to come, writes Samarth Singhal
Since 2013’s Paradise Valley, singer-songwriter, John Mayer, has kept everyone guessing about his work in progress and on January 20, he released his new EP, The Search for Everything: Wave One, via Columbia Records. This EP is a teaser for The Search for Everything album that will release later this year, meanwhile, Mayer will release four new songs each month via Eps.
If Wave One is something to go by, this is going to be a really exciting year for Mayer loyalists, as his new work has him going back to his roots like never before. To give the EP the essential Mayer soul, it focuses more on his vocals and percussion takes a backseat this time. Reeking of existential soul searching and hopeful new beginnings, the four song EP proves that this is going to be a major comeback year for Mayer.
The first track, Moving On and Getting Older, begins with a classic guitar solo and then transitions into groovy notes. The laid-back percussion and at moments, no percussion, helps Mayer’s voice become the real hero of the track. This is the most playful song on the album and is followed by Changing. A song that reflects on the ever transient nature of things, Mayer experiments with sharp percussion on this track and it works well.
The third song, Love on the Weekend is the most disappointing of the lot. Mayer should totally give up pretensions of being pop and just focus on creating songs that are closer to his core than these wannabee soft tracks that try too hard to be sweet. But that doesn’t mean that it takes away from the EP, it is still a nice song, but it could’ve been better. Just sayin!
The last song, is the best song of all. You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me, quite simply put, is beautiful. It is effortless and uses the piano, whistling and acoustic strings to create the perfect background for Mayor’s touching, heartfelt vocals. This is worth giving a listen to, simply because its music resonates with you, no matter what stage of life you’re in. If you want a musical prelude to 2017, let this be it.
