Amazon.co.uk Review
Singer-songwriter John Mayer fills his debut,
Room for Squares, with pep talks to and advertisements for himself. Even when questioning his young life, Mayer's doubts come off glib; not one second of "Why Georgia" convinces that "the stirring in my soul" keeps the artist awake at night. Between his
Dave Matthews-wannabe vocals and the accomplished but bland light rock of his band, he could be just as easily offering tunes for hire to a coming-of-age network series as making a stand for himself and his worldview. The premise of "City Love"--that Mayer couldn't find his way around Manhattan until finding a girlfriend to root him to the place--is nice but not edifying. "My Stupid Mouth" is similarly fuzzy; letting us in on just what he said to alienate a dinner partner would've gone a long way toward fleshing out the song's pat self-deprecation. Ultimately, Mayer comes off less like a commiserating friend than a blabbermouth who's forever forgetting there's someone else in the room.
--Rickey Wright
Description
Somewhere around the turn of the 21st century, guys like David Gray (who'd already been labouring in obscurity for quite a while) and Five For Fighting made it hip (and profitable) to be a sensitive singer-songwriter for the first time since the '70s. Along those lines, John Mayer appeals to the kind of youngsters who are embarrassed by their parents' Dan Fogelberg collection but equally turned off by vociferous gangstas and misanthropic heavy rockers. ROOM FOR SQUARES (whose very title, not to mention Mayer's studied regular-guy cover pose, bespeaks the revenge of the nerds) accordingly trades in acoustic guitar-based folk-rock tempered with just enough 21st-century freshness to keep its practitioner in the Billboard charts (and his listeners' hearts). That's not to say Mayer's music is calculated; he's got a real feel for melody and a distinctive lyrical style. He also managed to be in the right place at the right time, and that's the key to any pop success.