John Mayer is a frustrating musician. He is an undeniably talented guitarist and has such a warm, smooth voice; he is capable of making clever and lovely music, but more often than not his sound is the very embodiment of (shudder) ‘easy listening/adult contemporary’. I think this tending towards the middle of the road is borne somewhat out of Mayer’s laziness as a musician; he seems comfortable putting out songs tailor-made for weddings (and the wedding night), but even when he does put in a little bit of effort, he is undermined by his own gentle and subtle performances. With Paradise Valley, Mayer has seemingly attempted to write a country album, but a muddled vision and standard John Mayer musical tropes mean it never really gets off the ground.
The album was written after Mayer moved to the Montana countryside almost three years ago, recovering from surgery on his vocal chords. Withdrawing from the spotlight and wandering in open fields apparently inspired the John Mayer version of a country album, but barely three of the 11 tracks could be even remotely called country, as they nestle in amongst some bluesy songs, some pop songs, and some bland ‘John Mayer is writing and performing these in his sleep’ songs.
‘Waitin’ on the Day’ is one of the most country-influenced tracks, but the slide guitar and pedal steel are not enough to counteract the John Mayer-iness of the vocals, which are as honeyed as ever and utterly devoid of twang. ‘Badge and Gun’ shows more promise, as Mayer exploits the break in his voice over a pretty melody, but you could hear ‘You’re No-one ‘til Someone Lets you Down’ and ‘On the Way Home’ 50 times and neither remember them, nor tap your foot once.
The high points of Paradise Valley are the times when Mayer embraces his natural tendencies and makes the effort to write interesting melodies, supported by slickly-produced harmonies. ‘Paper Doll’, his reply to Taylor Swift’s spurned lover song ‘Dear John’, uses a cutesy, music-box style guitar riff and patronising lyrics to make the sweetest diss track you’ve ever heard. ‘Dear Marie’ I enjoyed because it shows Mayer at his nicest (musically) and most narcissistic (lyrically), as he ponders on how his high school girlfriend feels when she sees him on the cover of a magazine (“Yeah, I got my dream but you got a family” he condescendingly concedes). Frank Ocean also provides guest vocals on one short but atmospheric track, adding yet another (very lovely) element to an album with very little conceptual unity. And the less said about Katy Perry’s guest performance, the better.
Paradise Valley lacks focus and feels like a bunch of songs Mayer has written over the last three years that all pertain to different points in his life. The scattered vibe makes it difficult to remain engaged over the course of the album, especially when interspersed by those few by-the-numbers tracks. But there are some really lovely moments and I’m sure you could play many of these songs at various events of a romantic nature. So at least there’s that.
6/10
Reviewer: Frances Bulley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQIimpLj6yo