Honestly, by 2017, nobody really knew where John Mayer was going. He’d spent the early 2010s hiding out in Montana, wearing oversized cardigans and playing Grateful Dead covers, seemingly content to let his "Your Body Is a Wonderland" pop-star ghost stay buried. Then came The Search for Everything, an album that didn't just mark a return to the mainstream—it was a full-blown emotional autopsy.
It’s been years since it dropped, but if you go back and listen to the record today, it feels less like a collection of songs and more like a guy trying to build a house out of his own wreckage. It’s messy. It’s incredibly polished. It’s "The Search for Everything," and for Mayer, that meant searching through R&B, folk, blues, and pure, unadulterated heartbreak.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Search for Everything
A lot of folks look at this record and think, "Oh, it’s the Katy Perry album." And yeah, Mayer basically admitted as much to The New York Times, famously asking, "Who else would I be thinking about?" But calling it just a breakup album is kinda reductive.
It wasn't just about losing a person. It was about Mayer losing the version of himself that he’d spent a decade trying to fix. You’ve got songs like "In the Blood" where he’s literally asking if he’s doomed to repeat his parents' mistakes. That’s heavy stuff for a guy who used to write about "Waiting on the World to Change."
The album didn't arrive all at once, either. Mayer released it in "waves"—four songs at a time. It was a weird move back then. He said he had too many songs to get out the door at once, but it also forced us to sit with the material. You couldn't just skim it. You had to digest the weird, funky groove of "Moving On and Getting Over" before you got hit with the devastating piano of "You’re Gonna Live Forever in Me."
The "Continuum" Connection
If you’re a gearhead or a credits-reader, you probably noticed some familiar names in the liner notes. Mayer brought back the "big guns" for this one: Steve Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass.
This is the same rhythm section that made Continuum a modern classic. Bringing them back felt like a statement. It was a signal to the fans: "I'm back to being the guy who cares about the pocket." You can hear it in "Still Feel Like Your Man." That song has a groove so deep you could get lost in it, even if the lyrics about keeping an ex's shampoo in the shower are slightly cringey and deeply relatable at the same time.
Why the Genre-Hopping Actually Works
Usually, when an artist tries to do "everything," the album ends up sounding like a disorganized playlist. Somehow, Mayer avoided that trap.
He managed to stitch together:
- Vintage R&B: "Still Feel Like Your Man" and "Moving On and Getting Over."
- Pure Folk: "Changing" starts as a simple piano ballad before exploding into a bluesy, slide-guitar solo that reminds you he’s still one of the best living guitarists.
- Classic Country: "Roll It on Home" sounds like it could’ve been on Paradise Valley, proving he didn't totally abandon his Montana roots.
- Cinematic Pop: "Emoji of a Wave" (terrible title, incredible song) features vocal arrangements that feel like a Beach Boys fever dream.
The thread that holds it all together isn't the sound; it's the vulnerability. He’s not playing a character. He’s just a 40-year-old guy wondering why he’s still single and why his heart still hurts when it rains.
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The Joshua Tree Sessions
One of the most interesting tidbits about the making of the album is the "Theme from The Search for Everything." It’s a short, instrumental track. Mayer wrote it on Christmas Day in an RV while parked out in Joshua Tree.
He was alone. He was feeling pretty low. He just started playing, and this sweeping, cinematic melody came out. He later described it as a way of "getting out of the way" of the music. It’s the sonic palate cleanser of the album, and it explains the title better than any lyric could. He was searching for a feeling that words couldn't quite catch.
The Legacy of the Record
Looking back, The Search for Everything was a pivot point. It proved that Mayer could exist in the Spotify era without chasing trends. He wasn't trying to sound like The Weeknd or Drake. He was just being John Mayer.
The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200, but its real success is how it lives on in his live sets. "In the Blood" has become a sort of anthem for people dealing with family trauma. "Moving On and Getting Over" is a staple for his jam-band fans.
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It wasn't a perfect record—some critics found it a bit too "slacker-rock" or "aimless"—but for most of us, that was the point. Life is aimless. Healing is aimless. The search isn't a straight line.
Actionable Insights for the Listener
- Listen for the Layers: On "Emoji of a Wave," pay attention to the "wave" of backing vocals. It’s actually Al Jardine and Matt Jardine from The Beach Boys. It’s a subtle nod to the California sound that influenced the whole project.
- Watch the Live Versions: If you think the studio tracks are good, look up the live performances from the 2017 tour. Mayer split the shows into three sets: Full Band, Trio (with Pino and Steve), and Acoustic. It’s the best way to see how these songs were actually built.
- Don't Skip the Instrumentals: The "Theme" might seem like filler, but it’s the emotional core of the record. Give it a focused listen with headphones on.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the technical side of his playing during this era, check out his interviews with Rolling Stone or Guitar World from 2017. He gets surprisingly nerdy about the gear used to get that "slacker-pop" reverb. You might even find yourself shopping for an old Fender Princeton after a few tracks.
To fully appreciate the evolution, try listening to The Search for Everything immediately after Born and Raised. You can hear the exact moment where the folk influences start to merge with his R&B sensibilities, creating the "hybrid" sound that eventually led to his later work like Sob Rock. Focus on the transition in "Changing"—it's the bridge between his two musical worlds.