John Mayer returns today with new single “Last Train Home” and an accompanying music video.
The track marks the first to be released from Mayer’s forthcoming eighth studio album, Sob Rock, due out via Columbia Records on July 16th.
Produced by the venerable Don Was, Sob Rock mark’s the first full-length studio album from John Mayer since 2017’s The Search For Everything.
In late March, Mayer took to TikTok to play a few bars from “Last Train Home” live, generating 1.4 million views in the process. Without warning, Sob Rock ads popped up in subways on both coasts in New York and Los Angeles before billboards towered over L.A. last month.
On Tuesday, Mayer shared the cover art for Sob Rock on social media and spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the single and album. In classic fashion, official ‘zines’ promoting the album have been mailed to fans who signed up at the official Sob Rock website. The issue notably features an interview between Mayer and producer Don Was.
The choice to use TikTok, an app primarily used by younger people, to share the first previews of his album was a conscious one for Mayer. As he explained to the WSJ, “Once you get past the age of 40, anything can be Elvis. And you have to be very careful that you’re not the guy shaking his head at Elvis.”
The new song, “Last Train Home”, embodies the synth-pop vibes of the early 1980s. If you thought, “Hey, this sounds a little like Toto,” you wouldn’t be too far off-base: Toto veterans Lenny Castro (percussion) and Greg Phillinganes (keys) both appear on the song. “Last Train Home” also features a notable cameo from superstar country singer Maren Morris.
The stylistic shift on “Last Train Home” is notable, especially when compared to recent singles like “I Guess I Just Feel Like” and “Carry Me Away” and 2020 Leon Bridges collab “Inside Friend“.
Mayer had been working on the new record for at least a year. In May of 2020, during a “surprise” episode of his “Current Mood” show on Instagram Live, he explained that he had been absent from social media in recent weeks as he dove into the writing and recording process for the album.
“I wanted to move my mental energy over to making a record, to lyrics, instead of songs about CVS receipts,” he joked. “Let me tell you something, when this record comes out, it’s either going to be your favorite record of mine or your least favorite.”
Fans will begin putting that hypothesis to the test when Mayer heads to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, June 7th to deliver the first-ever official live performance of “Last Train Home”.
The rest of this year is looking busy for Mayer as he will surely be promoting Sob Rock amid Dead & Company‘s recently confirmed 31-date 2021 tour.
Listen to “Last Train Home” by John Mayer on the platform of your choice here or watch the music video below and scroll down to read the full lyrics for the song and check out a full Sob Rock track listing.
John Mayer – “Last Train Home” (Official Music Video)
[Video: John Mayer]
John Mayer – Sob Rock – Track Listing
Last Train Home
Shouldn’t Matter but It Does
New Light
Why You No Love Me
Wild Blue
Shot in the Dark
I Guess I Just Feel Like
Til the Right One Comes
Carry Me Away
All I Want Is to Be With You
John Mayer – “Last Train Home” – Lyrics
If you wanna roll me, then you gotta roll me all night long
And if you wanna use me, then you gotta use me til I’m gone
I’m not a fallen angel, I just fell behind
I’m out of luck and I’m out of time
If you don’t wanna love me, let me go
I’m runnin for the last train
I’m runnin for the last train home
If you wanna know me, then you gotta know me through and through
And if you’re gonna hurt me, then you gotta hold me next to you
No matter how you work it, things go wrong
I put my heart where it don’t belong
So if you’re comin with me let me know
Maybe you’re the last train
Maybe you’re the last train home
I’m on the last train runnin
I’m on the last train runnin
And I surrender
And I surrender
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