In the singer/songwriter genre the man is everthing, and John Mayer is the man. He easily supports his slick blend of jazz and pop with only an acoustic guitar. He plays like a classically-trained Dave Matthews and writes lyrics that have all the poetry and even more substance than Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. His first release, Inside Wants Out, is a 9-song trailer of what’s to come. MTV has already recognized “My Stupid Mouth” on The Real World and it shouldn’t take him much longer to gain the popularity he deserves.
In the song, he sings, “We bit our lips, she looked out the window/ rolled up tiny balls of napkin paper/ I played a quick game of chess with the salt and pepper shaker.” This knack for capturing a scene tangibly will take this 20-year-old newcomer far: a great album with plenty of room for growth.
Archived article by Ari Fontecchio