A strange fish, John Mayer. On the one hand, he is an inhabitant of one of the most populated and indeed denigrated genres in music; that of the singer-songwriter. On the other, his life has been so eventful that he has the perfect basis for his material. He’s a talented guitarist, that much is beyond doubt. He’s also a veritable Lothario – the list of his conquests is damn impressive – so, given that affairs of the heart always seem to form the bulk of any singer-songwriter’s repertoire, you’d think he would have no problems creating an original record with some spice.

Why does it not work out like that? Sure there are some solid sweet songs here, and if you’re already a fan then you’ll be happy enough, but if you’re looking for some sign of maturity or innovation then you’ll be bored off your ass before you get to Crossroads. Which would be a pity since that funky little number is probably the song that steers closest to what might be called ‘original’. Much has been made recently of Mayer’s alleged changing of sound, suggesting that he was veering more towards the blues genre, but I was a fan of Room For Squares, his breakthrough, and this album is practically indiscernible from that.
 

As for the tracks themselves, well... There are some that rise above the dirge. The pro-weed politics of Who Says might be irritating to some but the song itself builds up nicely and is quirky, atmospheric and memorable. Perfectly Lonely is a deceptively upbeat extolment of the virtues of independence, similar in content to Simon & Garfunkel’s I Am A Rock. Endearing album closer Friends Lovers or Nothing boasts a Queen-esque guitar riff which Brian May would be proud of and it rounds Battle Studies off nicely.

Nonetheless, there’s some serious garbage here. All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye sounds eerily like something Coldplay would’ve shat out circa 2000 and, while pleasant enough, it’s nothing particularly special. Do You Know Me is one of the most boring tracks of this year –I must’ve listened to it about 5 times and still couldn’t find one distinguishing feature. Assassin would’ve been fine if it hadn’t fallen apart after 3 minutes, disintegrating into a bizarre mishmash of terrible cheesy guitar and self-indulgent bluesy bollocks - it’s rare enough that you find yourself getting into a song only for it to take such a dramatic downturn in quality that the whole shebang is irredeemably ruined. Nice one John.
 

Anybody who has consistently loved John Mayer since his debut will not be put off by anything here that’s for sure. He has certainly maintained the same standard all the way through his career, that’s not in question. It’s just that the whole sound is beginning to feel just a teensy bit jaded and it would be nice to see some more variation, more willingness to take risks, more pushing of boundaries.

Then again, it is only John Mayer.

- Sebastian Clare