Well, would ya look at that? John Mayer's new record is titled "Heavier Things."
Anyone who has compared the re-recorded songs on "Room For Squares" to the originals on the "Inside Wants Out" EP or heard the opening bars of "Any Given Thursday" knows where this is heading -- Mayer has progressively been fattening up his sound since his first release, and the cover art featuring him tangled up in a well worn Stratocaster, dietary staple of Rock and Roll that it is, hinted that an even edgier set list might have been in the works.
It's hard to tell whether he's making good on the promise that the title suggests, though. In some ways, "Heavier Things" is more forceful than "Room For Squares." He is certainly going heavier on the bass and overall studio sheen. Unfortunately, he's also much more reserved than on "Any Given Thursday," a live album on which he was probably kicking it up a few notches because he wanted the music (and thus the crowd) to be as electric as possible.
Whatever the reason may have been, it no longer matters, because he's back to his old tricks now. Severely annoyed males everywhere will no doubt be thrilled to learn that the throatiness of Mayer's vocals is just as overbearing as ever. Come on, John, really. It's like candy corn; used sparingly -- oh, let's say every October or so -- it might well have been delightful. But any more than that is sickeningly sweet and, quite frankly, borders on repulsive.
After "Room for Squares," everyone kept saying that Mayer's sound was reminiscent (or even derivative) of Dave Matthews's. I never quite understood what that was about. It always seemed to me that he had his own thing going on, and that the comparison had been drawn only because the two are leading acoustic songwriters with college rock audiences and consistently strange, quite possibly progressively degenerative vocal tics. With "Heavier Things," however, I can finally see what that was all about. At times, Mayer channels Dave so strongly that you'd better put the exorcist on speed dial before turning it on. He does it quite well, though -- even if the influences vaguely smack of plagiarism, they're still well placed and well chosen.
Unfortunately, they're also pretty much the highlights of the record. The songs here, for all their sex appeal and charmingly heart-wrenching wordplay (remember that one about the hand and the pillow?) just don't seem to go anywhere. None of it builds, none of it climaxes, and although the ride is enjoyable enough along the way, part of you has to wonder what he thinks he's accomplishing. There's nothing with the stunning complexity of "Neon," none of the subdued riffing that peeked out from time to time on "Any Given Thursday," and the only song that even has a prayer of comparing to the auditory acid trip of "No Such Thing" is the (admittedly excellent) lead single, "Bigger Than My Body." Other than a few tidbits here and there, such as a surprisingly memorable howl on "Clarity" and the defiant lyric "Don't hold your love over my head" from "Come Back To Bed," Mayer's purposes here are usually either misguided, indecipherable or just plain unattained.
It's not that he doesn't have potential, and it's not even that he's not fulfilling it. He is, but the manner in which he does so is almost a tease, falling so close to the finish line that you can't really tell whether or not he's doing it intentionally, just to screw with your head. How would any sentient animal or even highly evolved vegetable with the talent to produce a "Back To You" or a "Why Georgia" let a train wreck like "City Love" be released at all, let alone on multiple albums? How is it that his signature acoustic and vocal touches can quietly revolutionize the Police classic "Message in a Bottle" but sink a good third or so of his originals before the first chorus hits? How can someone with the stylistic depth to reinvent "3x5" the way he did during the time between his last two albums fail to see that he is painting with the same three colors on every song?
Mayer, though, is in the lucky position of having a sizable army of devotees who positively eat up his strengths without allowing his faults to bother them, and their continued support is why the success of this album is pretty much in the bag. "Heavier Things" succeeds in the very same ways as "Room For Squares," so those who already like him will enjoy this album. It fails in the same ways too, though, so those who don't will find him as aggravating as ever. Feel free to add or subtract a star from the rating given here, depending on which group you belong to ... because the funny thing is, they're both right.
***
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