JOHN MAYER > Battle Studies

JOHN MAYER

Battle Studies

(COLUMBIA)

[Rating: 3.5 STARS]

Great songs and guitar work throughout, in addition to his signature soulful singing. The romantic battlefield is the setting here, as identified by the title and reflected through the chain of songs here painting the conflagrations of the heart, from the opening “Heartbreak Warfare” through “Assassin” and “War of My Life.” Yet the music that accompanies these does not reflect aggression as much as a warrior who loves the battle. Mayer has grown as eloquent with words as he is with music. Great crystalline shorthand of the soul like “I’ve got a hammer and a heart of glass…” from “War of My Life” unfold an intimate contemplation on romantic pain. His partnership in production with drummer-extraordinaire has created a dimensional sheen, anchored by Jordan’s rock-solid rhythms, Pino Palladino’s percussive bass-lines and the restrained fury of Mayer’s guitar lines. Beautiful melodicism abounds throughout, especially in “Friends, Lovers Or Nothing” and “Perfectly Lonely. “All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye” updates Cole Porter’s persistence of isolation into a wordless sphere: “I love you more than songs can say.” Mayer’s guitar sings and stings throughout– from languidly tuneful George Harrison-like solos to biting B.B. King sparks. “Crossroads” is a blissful blues gathering, bolstered by an arch Stevie Wonder-like clavinet-rhythm part on electric guitar spiked by a wonderfully dirty solo. Taylor Swift duets with him on “Half Of My Heart” like they’ve been singing together for years. Whether Mayer emerges triumphant from this battlefield doesn’t matter as long as he keeps making music like this.