John Mayer Leaves Wonderland, Gets Heavy on New Record
Poppy, strummy singer/songwriter John Mayer is putting aside acoustic love songs and confronting weightier subjects.
His album Heavier Things, due September 9, will be driven by electric guitars and will expand upon the lyrical introspection of his triple-platinum Room for Squares (2001).
The Grammy-winning artist recorded the 10-song album during five weeks at Avatar Studios in New York in April and May, then another month at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles in June. Jack Joseph Puig, who mixed six songs on Room for Squares, produced and mixed Heavier Things. Puig's list of credits include Sheryl Crow, No Doubt and Hole.
The album's first single will be "Bigger Than My Body." A video for the song was shot on June 29 by Nigel Dick (Britney Spears, Guns N' Roses). In the video, Mayer plays alone on a street corner, and a crowd of people ignores him as it passes in a great hurry to get to a giant stage. In their haste, the people fail to realize that the music emanating from the speakers onstage is coming from the street musician they paid no attention to. The clip will hit in August.
Other tracks on Heavier Things include "Daughters," "Come Back to Bed" and "Something's Missing," all of which Mayer has been playing in concert.
Mayer began a tour with the Counting Crows in Englewood, California, on July 7. Dates run through September 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
—Jon Wiederhorn
