[3/21/21] A new album from John Mayer appears to be imminent. The singer/songwriter/guitarist referenced the forthcoming release in a pair of clips posted to his TikTok channel over the weekend.
In the first clip, fans can see and hear Mayer repeating “I think I’m gonna drop a clip of the single.” A text overlay on the clip states, “My album is recorded, mixed and mastered. I’ve just been chilling and sharing it with friends for the past couple of months.” The caption on the video simply says, “It’s probably time #newmusic.”
In the second clip, “Directed by Christopher Nolan” (lol), Mayer plays with a couple of dogs as a snippet of a song plays underneath. Along with the caption “choo choo here comes new music,” the clip’s text overlays mention that this TikTok contains “a new music.”
While the audio clip is only a few seconds long, it already sounds starkly different from Mayer’s most recent releases—much closer to the ’80s arena-rock feel of Toto‘s “Africa” than softer songs like 2019 singles “I Guess I Just Feel Like” and “Carry Me Away” and 2020 Leon Bridges collab “Inside Friend“. Mayer has not released a new full-length album since 2017’s The Search For Everything.
[UPDATE 3/22/21, 10:00 p.m. ET]: In a new clip posted to Mayer’s TikTok, viewers get a clip of the vocals from the single: “If you wanna wrong me, then you gotta wrong me all night long / If you wanna use me, then you gotta use me ’til I’m gone.”
“I have no idea how much new music to share,” he says via text overlay. The label says sharing clips is good. But who can vibe out to just 8 bars of music??? So I think I’ll keep posting clips until they say stop. Set ’em up let’s play.”
[UPDATE 3/28/20]: As promised, Mayer has continued to share short clips from the new album on TikTok. This time, this new clip appears to come from a second new single. “Never seen the sun before, lying on the ocean floor / I’m walking through the wilderness and living off the loneliness,” Mayer sings in the clip over a moody, bass-led groove.
[UPDATE 4/2/21]: In yet another amusing new clip, Mayer has shared a snippet of a third song from the forthcoming album. This track is much closer to the John Mayer sound with which fans are familiar, as John sing over an acoustic guitar chord progression, “Should have been open, should have done more, should have learned a lesson from the year before. Should have been honest, should have just cried, should have told me there was nothing left inside. Now the road keeps rolling on forever, and the years keep pulling us apart. We lost something, i still wonder what it was. Shouldn’t matter, shouldn’t matter, but it does.”
Oh, and in case you missed it, Mayer also shared a couple clips about another new song, “Ravioli Shoes”, that we’re at least 70% sure is a joke. Still, it’s been a fun ride. Listen to the amusing “song“, watch Mayer break down his “Ravioli Shoes” songwriting process, see him react to the media response to the joke track, and doing an interview with Andy Cohen about the unlikely “hit.” We wouldn’t hold our breath for “Ravioli Shoes” to sneak on the record, but it’s undoubtedly been fun to follow the gag over the course of the last week.
Check out the John Mayer clips from his forthcoming new album below and keep an eye on his TikTok for more.
@johnmayerIt’s probably time ##newmusic♬ original sound – johnmayer
@johnmayerchoo choo here comes new music ##songwriter ##music ##newmusic♬ original sound – johnmayer
@johnmayerPlease enjoy more new music ##guitar ##guitartok ##music ##newmusic♬ original sound – johnmayer
@johnmayer30 seconds to BARS ##music ##fish ##life♬ original sound – johnmayer
@johnmayerHi here’s ##newmusic ##music ##johnmayer♬ original sound – johnmayer
Mayer has 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.”
Related: 10 John Mayer Solo Songs That Deadheads Will Love [Listen]
For Mayer’s “other” gig, Dead & Company, fans may need to wait a while longer for new developments. As he recently noted on the prospect of a 2021 Dead & Co tour during a radio interview with friend, TV personality, and avowed Deadhead Andy Cohen, “Look, there’s no reason to sort of be veiled about. If we can, we definitely will. I don’t think anybody wants to put up another tour and take it down… It starts looking like ’22 is the only way you can really start booking stuff and be sure that you wouldn’t have to write that Instagram post that goes, ‘Guys, we really talked this over …’” Dead & Company’s scheduled 2020 summer tour was canceled last April as the pandemic continued to spread.
In the meantime, Mayer’s new TikTok page has become a regular source of entertainment. Watch him jam on H.E.R.‘s “Hold On” here.
[UPDATE 6/1/21]: In a pair of social media posts, John Mayer has finally confirmed that his new album, Sob Rock, will arrive on July 16th. In the first post, stylized like a celebrity gossip magazine called “Friday”, Mayer revealed that full details and new music would arrive this Friday, June 4th. In a second post, Mayer shared what appears to be the cover art for the album. Check out both posts below.
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.
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[UPDATE 6/4/21]: After a widespread lead-up, John Mayer has officially released “Last Train Home”, the lead single from his new album, Sob Rock. The track sounds like a mix between Mayer and Toto, and for good reason—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.
Read more details about the new album here or watch the new music video for “Last Train Home” below.
John Mayer – “Last Train Home” (Official Video)
[Video: John Mayer]