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John Mayer: Room For Squares |
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Artist: John MayerTitle: Room For Squares
Aware/Columbia CDCOL 6417
Singer-songwriter-guitarist John Mayer is a newcomer to the international scene, although he has built up an enthusiastic fan base in his adopted home town, Atlanta, Georgia, where he moved in 1998 after a period at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Mayer soon became a regular at Atlanta songwriters' nightspots and in 1999 released his self-produced album, Inside Wants Out, consisting mostly of solo acoustic renditions of his songs.
Courted by several record labels once the media discovered him, he signed with Aware/Columbia Records. Room For Squares is the result, an album Mayer says is the fulfilment of what the songs on Inside Wants Out were meant to be.
There are 13 songs on the album, although they are numbered from one to 12 and then 14. Perhaps Mayer is superstitious.
Mayer, now 24, penned the songs when he was 19 or 20. Despite his youthfulness, the music defies the current plastic pop trend fashionable among teenagers, fitting more comfortably into a contemporary adult pop genre. Although Mayer rejects being labelled an acoustic musician, the songs have a strong acoustic feel to them. He is joined on this album by bassist David LaBruyere and drummer Nir Zidkiyahu.
| TRACK LISTING
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1. No Such Thing
2. Why Georgia
3. My Stupid Mouth
4. Your Body Is a Wonderland
5. Neon
6. City Love
7. 83
8. 3x5
9. Love Song For No One
10. Back To You
11. Great Indoors
12. Not Myself
14. St. Patrick's Day |
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His vocal sound is also mature beyond his years. His voice sounds like a smoky blend of Sting, Dave Matthews and Jakob Dylan.
The main problem with the album is that some of the lyrics betray his age. “Your Body Is a Wonderland”, for example, contains such lyrics as “One mile to every inch of / Your skin like porcelain / One pair of candy lips and / Your bubblegum tongue”.
Tracks like “No Such Thing” and My Stupid Mouth” evoke a sense of teenage angst. It's hard to reconcile such stuff with the adult music and voice. Perhaps he'll brush off the naivety in a few years.
Also disappointing is the fact that the songs tend to sound like each other. One can only hope that Mayer will create more of a variety in later albums, and hopefully there will be more albums. This is someone with a lot of talent and a good sound. If he develops it further, John Mayer could become as popular here as he is in Atlanta. But not on the strength of this album alone.
Internet links:
www.johnmayer.com
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