The second part of this series of EPs by US singer-songwriter John Mayer draws heavily on Bread, Free, and other 70s soft-rockers. Not one of the four tracks here strays too far from midtempo, and the shuffling, twangy guitars supply an overt sense of nostalgia. The electronic updates to the sound help to prevent pastiche, but the production feels a little too precise and synthetic, meaning that the fireside warmth of 70s classics like ‘Make It With You’ is lost. In struggling to separate himself from his influences, Mayer inadvertently throws away the best of what those influences could have given this EP. The lyrics are often generic, and references to texting and emojis jar a little against Mayer’s yearning for the past, but occasional moments of idiosyncrasy like a verse about keeping an ex’s shampoo even though “you probably found yourself some more somewhere” keep things from getting too dull. It’s likeable enough and a good set of chill-out songs, but it fails to capture the spirit of the records it really wishes it could be. Because of that, it’s forgettable.

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