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Sad boy rocker, John Mayer announces sad boy album, ‘Sob Rock’

Everybody’s favourite blues musician and supreme sulker, John Mayer, has finally revealed details for his upcoming studio album: Sob Rock.

This will be Mayer’s first official album release since 2017’s The Search for Everything, which peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA charts, as well as #1 on the Billboard US Top Rock Albums.

Okay. We saw it, too. “Sob Rock”. Want to talk about it?

John Mayer
Image: NME

‘Sob Rock’ is actually a thing, though. It’s a term that was used in the music community around the mid 70s to mid 80s for anything smooth that was played on the radio back then.

Y’know, anything with a sax solo, anything to kind of make you go *sigh*. So, naturally, the album cover has a bit of an 80s vibe going as well. Check it out below.

John Mayer Sob Rock

But yes. The title is also a bizarre fit for the notorious fuckboi and self-proclaimed “recovering egomaniac” every Taylor fan loves to hate.

So what’s the deal? Is John Mayer taking the piss? Is he still so deep in his own world that he’s just rolling with the cultural inspiration unbeknownst to his reputation?

It’s hard to say.

Let’s talk about the lead single first, then – Last Train Home. This banger of a snoozer (what?) has a distinct 80s soft rock vibe to it. In fact, it kinda reminds us of Toto’s Africa.

Explaining the song, Mayer told The Wall Street Journal that he asked himself: “What music makes me feel like everything’s going to be OK? And it’s the music I listened to growing up in the ’80s. There’s a security-blanket aspect about that sound that reminds me of a safer time.”

The album has also been described as a loose concept album based around dealing with a break-up, but it’s unclear as to with whom.

Safe to say, it’ll probably have a very melancholy feel overall – typical for Mayer.

Further details of the album were also promised for the weekend, with a tracklist expected too.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see.