A new album from the American songwriter and performer which he is about to promote in London and elsewhere. You never quite know what this artist is going to come out with, his solo albums have no great pattern. We know he can write great songs when he feels like it. Selfishly, I would like to see him play with Dead & Co, if it’s anything like the version of Shakedown Street that I saw them play on Jimmy Fallon’s show.

The rather fey portrait cover gives nothing away. The disc is named as Volume 1. A 16-page booklet gives the lyrics, some drawings and photographs in monochrome. Better press ‘play’ then and…

Still Feel Like Your Man comes in on a soulful wash of voices before settling into a soul groove, not a great distance from Luther Vandross. Steve Jordan is producing the record and Pino Palladino is there on the bass. Larry Goldings is on keys. Davide Rossi – recently spotted on the new Sheryl Crow record – has some strings input here and there. It sounds..comfortable, steady. Emoji Of A Wave has twinkling keys and acoustic guitar and I would swear that this could be a James Taylor number. The presence of Al and Matt Jardine on vocals just seems to add to the California vibe. Well, of course it does! The strings albeit conventional, do sound gorgeous. The song truly breathes, no showing off or overkill. Thus far, romantic regret seems to be the theme, wrapped in a calm acceptance.

Helpless brings choppy electric guitar has a rather confused lyric, to say the least. The backdrop allows for a guitar run @ 1:40 with a typical Mayer modulated, pleading tone. This is what his fans love but for me it could be wilder, more passionate. One Tiffany Palmer sings well, here. It’s the trio that performs on Love On The Weekend. The guitar sounds like Pat Metheny ! Ethereal and dreamy. It’s about a longing to meet up again for romance. Gonna break a few hearts, this one, simple and a sort of restrained eagerness. Something about the tale-spinning mode reminds me of Tom Petty. In The Blood takes solemn hardclap as its base and you almost expect ‘People Get Ready’ to start up. Mayer ruminates on inherited family traits over what is a really traditional country melody. Sheryl Crow sings along and when she does it sounds even more Dylanish ! You cannot help but wonder whether one verse might be about Katy Perry. This will be a very popular song for Mayer..

Changing finds him back in James Taylor, softly clanging piano. Wondering whether he will ever refrain from changing. His voice sounds really at home, perfect key, ambience attained. Two minutes a lovely guitar run takes over and you don’t want it to stop. It does @ 2:50. Theme From The Search For Everything is a pastoral instrumental, steady and acoustic. Moving On And Getting Over rides in on gentle funk, he cannot let go. But we know he must and he does, too. Very Bill Withers in all facets. Never On The Day You Leave is sombre, a ballad with more players. It’s melodic and calming.

Rosie sounds ominous when it starts off, clean electric guitar, Hammond and polite horns, it treads along in pleasant mode. Mayer sure is channeling Christopher Cross on this one, but adding wah guitar @2:35. Roll It On Home has a crisper country rock tempo. It’s like an Eagles outtake. You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me is looking for a Neil Simon film script, the lyric is the closest I have heard John Mayer get to Randy Newman. A quality song.

Mayer sounds very world-weary for a lot of this record. The sound is much more Bread/David Gates throughout the songs. As such it is not the disc to introduce you to how exciting Mayer can be. However it will become some fans’ favourite record if gentle soulfulness is favoured. We never want artists to make the same record over and over. Which is why this site is Coldplay-free.

Pete Sargeant