Mayer Straits, I guess?
[Video]
[4.75]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Pleasantly tame powder blue.
[6]
Micha Cavaseno: I recognize there’s something questionable about me in that I think there’s something to be commended in finding a suitable midway point between Dire Straits and Milky Chance. And not for nothing, of course it would be John Mayer of all people who could execute this convincingly and effectively. It says something to his particular knack for the middle of the road that if it was ever outfitted to a singer with traces of character, it’d be outright deadly. Fortunately, this is a man who is far too anodyne and slimy to every reveal that much to the most patient and masochistic of listeners. Were it not for that, I fear he would’ve been far too dangerous a force for the span of his career.
[5]
Ian Mathers: I mean, he’d definitely already embraced soft rock, but I don’t remember him being quite so much like a Great Value Steve Miller, and in any case on this evidence I don’t think he’s capable of his own “Fly Like An Eagle.”
[3]
Alfred Soto: Boning up on his Chris Rea and “Sultans of Swing,” John Mayer extends — retreats into if I’m churlish — his interest in twinkling Carter-era guitar pop whose primary duty requires holding the world at bay so long as the world doesn’t look like pretty women.
[6]
Harlan Talib Ockey: Let’s be clear — when I say ’80s nostalgia is overdone, what I really mean is “lazy, interchangeable ’80s synthpop rehashes are overdone.” I am absolutely not immune to a well thought-out ’80s pastiche, nor an homage to a less-appreciated sound of the decade. “Wild Blue” is an invigorating shot of “hey, Brothers in Arms was a great album.” The question of if it is good, however, is slightly different. For the most part, it’s inoffensively above average. There’s not a ton of narrative detail in the lyrics, but we get an evocative, Transcendentalist extended metaphor that’s impressive while you’re reading through it and immediately forgotten once you look away. Likewise, Mayer avoids the pentatonic scale just enough in his solos to remind us he went to Berklee, but they contain no sense of structural progression or emotional catharsis. And then there’s the million dollar question: does it do anything interesting to justify mining this period of musical history? Ostensibly, the conceit of the record is that it doesn’t have to, with Mayer usually asking us to pretend it’s a legitimate artifact from the period. When questioned directly, he’s tried to argue that it’s kind of an anachronistic fusion, with the lyrics being more introspective than the ’80s could have allowed. I’m not convinced. The decade may be stereotyped as a shallow, ultra-consumerist hellhole, but it was also fertile ground for older musicians’ weighty divorce albums. “Wild Blue” sounds like it’s from the late ’80s in every respect. Which is fine, I guess. Hardly pushing boundaries or making a statement in 2022, but it’s still well-crafted.
[6]
Edward Okulicz: I like this a lot more than almost any actual Dire Straits song. Except that’s because I don’t like Dire Straits at all. However, this song is certainly not as good as “Your Own Sweet Way” by the Notting Hillbillies, sorry John-boy, come back when you’re as good as a Mark Knopfler side project.
[5]
Nortey Dowuona: First, the drums are flat, the bass is smooth, the guitar is slinking and subtly sprinkled across the sides of the mix, with soft touch synths spooled down to sweeten the entire mix, but then John Mayer sings. Secondly, he layers his voice with drab Judith Hill remakes making the song drag a little longer. Thirdly, John Mayer sings over the chorus wrap up. Finally, the guitar solo is limp and dry and doesn’t even keep up a brisk pace. AND JOHN MAYER SINGS.
[4]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I swear to god we covered this song 4 years ago.
[3]