John Mayer is certainly many things - diverse, undoubtedly talented, and perhaps maybe a little unhinged? His latest album The Search For Everything was released in two 'waves', however he's now collectively put them together to create a full LP. This may lead to the record feeling disjointed, but I guess we shall find out soon enough!
As always, here's a reminder of our rating system..
1 - Shouldn't have been recorded
2 - Filler
3 - Above average filler
4 - Killer
5 - Career defining masterpiece
Track 01 - Still Feel Like Your Man
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 02 - Emoji of a Wave
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 03 - Helpless
John - 3.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 04 - Love on the Weekend
John - 2/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 05 - In The Blood
John - 5/5
Tilly - 5/5
Track 06 - Changing
John - 4/5
Tilly - 3/5
Track 07 - Theme from 'The Search for Everything'
John - 4/5
Tilly - 4/5
Track 08 - Moving On and Getting Over
John - 2/5
Tilly - 2/5
Track 09 - Never on the Day You Leave
John - 4.5/5
Tilly - 4.5/5
Track 10 - Rosie
John - 3/5
Tilly - 2.5/5
Track 11 - Roll it on Home
John - 2.5/5
Tilly - 3.5/5
Track 12 - You're Gonna Live Forever in Me
John - 4/5
Tilly - 4.5/5
Conclusion
John - For a few tracks, I didn't know what to make of things. I've never really listened to John Mayer before, apart from a few songs here and there, and I was struggling to see what all the fuss is about. But then, something clicked. His lyrics started to make sense to me, the instrumentals started to become more bearable (not a huge fan of country-ish guitar twangs, shoot me) and I was liking it. You really have to listen to fully appreciate these songs, but once you do.. Yeah. I get it.
In The Blood was the highlight for me. An excellent display of songwriting, and a mid-tempo, chilled, melodic instrumental. There were others too, but this stood out amongst them. Very Dylan-esque in the way that the lyrics complimented the music perfectly, and vice versa. That's an incredibly difficult thing to do. This album is a lesson in lyricism. Here and there, there are some tracks that are kinda average, but it's not due to the lyrics, it's due to the song dragging on a bit or a dull instrumental. Mayer evokes powerful emotions through his music here, and, whilst I might not necessarily listen to much of this in the future, I can most definitely appreciate that.
Overall Score - 4/5
Tilly - Oh wow. I sometimes forget just how multi-talented this man is. His voice is beautiful, as a musician he's phenomenal and as a lyricist he's almost untouchable in this day and age. Yes, there were a couple of songs that were slightly less than breathtaking but the highs of this album were mesmerising. In The Blood is a masterpiece and oddly reminds me of Blowin' In The Wind by Bob Dylan. Never On The Day You Leave and You're Gonna Live Forever In Me are stunning. Genuinely some of the prettiest songs I've heard in years. The songs I gave the lower scores too (Moving on and Getting Over, Rosie..), are definitely going to be growers. They can't not be if they're on such a fantastic album and I trust that he included them for a reason. The Search For Everything is the most under-hyped gem of the year so far, and it'll certainly be one of my favourite albums of 2017.
Overall Score - 4/5