Sonic Slang

John Mayer bashing clearly has its place in certain circles.  Anytime a sensitive 20-something singer/songwriter (James Blunt!) comes along and tops the pops with calculated prom songs like "Your Body is a Wonderland" two things are certain: teenage girls will swoon and hipsters will puke.  But we'll wager that a lot more of you folks owned Room For Squares than would care to admit it, and as SS has been saying for a few years now, Mayer's adult-contemp shtick was bound to get more tolerable once he was, you know, an adult.  The guy has a lotta soul for a white dude, and seriously serious guitar chops. 

The John Mayer Trio proved that the kid could hang with real musicians, and rip out some more than competent bluesy riffs.  But when September 12 brings us his third solo album, Continuum (cool title we think), will he go back to TRL, or keep jamming with Herbie Hancock?  Judging by the first single, "Waiting on the World to Change," the answer might be somewhere in between.

The track's nothing amazing really, but it does have the feel of Mayer's first real "adult" song.  Instead of showing up on a college freshman's mixtape, this bluesy little pop ditty sounds more like something from a Starbucks compilation disc...and we actually sort of mean that in a good way. 

If this is the direction Mayer is heading, the days of topping Billboard might be over, but he also might be able to pull off a kind of white boy Curtis Mayfield vibe that might actually win over the hipsters getting a bit long in the tooth for rocking out.  Stream "Waiting on the World to Change" at Mayer's official site.