It’s been four years since I last featured a Spoon song on the blog, and back then I wrote that they are “one of those bands whose work I always love when I play it, but whose music I seldom play.”
I found myself thinking the very same thing when today’s random song popped into my headphones. This is a great track from a great album (2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the band’s sixth), but one I haven’t listened to in years.
Counting down my favorite songs from the new John Mayer album, Sob Rock…
#1. ‘Wild Blue’
My favorite song on Sob Rock by a country mile, ‘Wild Blue’ is also one of the best tracks Mayer has ever recorded, period.
Mayer touches on a bunch of early 80s influences on this album, and on this song it’s Dire Straits’ turn. Somewhere Mark Knopfler is doffing his cap to acknowledge the fabulous groove and sublime guitar work on ‘Wild Blue.’
Counting down my favorite songs from the new John Mayer album, Sob Rock…
#2. ‘New Light’
‘New Light’ is the oldest song on Sob Rock, having been released as a single way back in 2018, so it feels a little weird to write about it as a favorite song from this album when it’s been a favorite on its own for three years.
But I don’t want to penalize such a stellar track because it’s not brand-new. And the song fits just beautifully on the album sonically, making me wonder if Mayer had this 80s-inspired project in mind for all these years.
Counting down my favorite songs from the new John Mayer album, Sob Rock…
#3. ‘Til the Right One Comes’
Few people deliver breezy pop as well as John Mayer, and this song is a great example of how he spins gold out of a very simple ditty.
‘Til the Right One Comes’ gives me definite Paul Simon vibes, and its keyboards hint at Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be the Place.’ I don’t know if he was deliberately seeking to invoke 80s world music (minus the drums) but that’s the feeling I get.
Counting down my favorite songs from the new John Mayer album, Sob Rock…
#4. ‘I Guess I Just Feel Like’
John Mayer can be a snarky, obnoxious son of a bitch in interviews, but he’s earnest as hell in song. I don’t know which of those is an act, or more likely, if they’re flip sides of the same coin.
‘I Guess I Just Feel Like’ is one of several songs on Sob Rock that is deeply mournful but ultimately hopeful. While the others concern matters of the heart, this one describes a more general malaise.
