John Mayer returns with his 7th studio album, The Search For Everything. The album sees Mayer return to his soul, R&B and pop sounds from his Continuum, Room For Squares, and Battle Studies releases.
This album has been called, his break up record due to his highly publicized split with singer. Katy Perry. Thankfully, however, The Search for Everything avoids the pitfall of what I call a ‘’woe is me’’ heart-break album. Although nearly every song deals with lost love, it also deals with what you can’t control like the emotional evolution or roller coaster of relationships in general to who and what you are based on personal experiences.
The Search For Everything should have and could have been a very personal and revealing album, but in my opinion, the album suffers from being a tad overproduced which really takes away the impact and sentiment of the songs. Still, what the album lacks in impact, is made up by Mayer’s’ uncanny ability to create enjoyable melodies. Besides, it doesn’t hurt that Mayer is a skilled guitarist, sounding eerily like Eric Clapton at certain instances.
Although this is still an enjoyable listen, the album would have had a lot more impact if Mayer continued with the stripped down approach we saw in his previous albums, Born and Raised and Paradise Valley.
