John Mayer
Joseph Okpako/WireImageJohn Mayer announced on Tuesday that he’ll be releasing his eighth studio album, titled Sob Rock, on July 16th. The singer and guitarist released the news on Twitter, along with the album’s cover art. Rolling Stone has reached out to representatives for Mayer for further details.
Sob Rock will mark Mayer’s first studio album since 2017’s The Search for Everything. Since 2015, he has been performing as part of the Grateful Dead supergroup Dead & Company, who recently announced a set of 2021 tour dates kicking off in August. (The band had originally planned to tour in 2020, but postponed the live dates due to the pandemic.) Dead & Co. will also be resuming their annual Playing in the Sand residency in January 2022, performing for three nights at the Riviera Cancun in Mexico.
As a solo artist, Mayer joined Maren Morris onstage at this year’s Grammy Awards to play guitar for her song “The Bones.”
NEW RELEASES
Don't look now, but R&B/soul sensation GIVEON is making a comeback, and it looks like he's ready to regain his position in the space. He's doing so with a tweaked formula, tapping into his vintage soul bag. The Long Beach, California native is also pouring his heart out in the process on a song called "RATHER BE."
It's his second single released this year, with "TWENTIES" being the predecessor. Both will almost certainly be on GIVEON's next title, which has to be formally announced.
"RATHER BE," produced by an all-star squad of Sevn Thomas, Jahaan Sweet, Matthew Burnett, Maneesh Bidaye, and Jeff “Gitty” Gitelman, finds the 30-year-old yearning for an old flame.
He's unashamedly calling for her to reenter his life as he expresses how she was truly made for him. "Rather be a fool than believe in someone new / I'd rather be with you / Than the other half of someone who’s not even half of you," GIVEON sings explosively on the chorus.
According to an IG post, "RATHER BE" is just "another piece of this beautiful story i have to tell ⌛️." Both singles have us extremely intrigued about what seems to an emotional rollercoaster.
Hopefully, GIVEON decides to end this album drought sooner than later. It's been nearly three years since his last studio effort Give Or Take. Check out "RATHER BE" below.
Quotable Lyrics:
Wishin' you would settle down or come around
I've been dancin' to all the songs that you love all alone
Lost in the dark
'Cause you stole the sun, oh-oh
Oh, tears are formin'
When I see your face in my phonе, I can't erase the mеmory
