Singer and songwriter, John Mayer, released his major label debut, “Room For Squares,” establishing himself as an impressive newcomer with a voice that resembles Dave Matthews, Jakob Dylan, and Sting.

His songs don?t focus on guitar pyrotechnics, but rather soothing melodies with distinctive rhythmic textures. His previous album “Inside Wants Out” was released in 1999 and consisted of mainly solo acoustic performances.

“When you hear a great song, you trace it back to who the singer is,” Mayer said. “When you can offer people that piece of you, that?s what keeps them listening to you.”

His new album, “Room For Squares,” is enjoying its success, as it has been the #1 record on the Billboard Heat seekers New Artist chart.

The album is filled with meaningful ideas and thoughts that almost anyone can relate to about life and love. We all wonder about these: what we do and why we do it, and in Mayer?s album he says what we are all thinking to help us not feel alone in a complex world.

Mayer sings about love in such songs as City Love, which is about being lost in the Big Apple until a woman comes along and makes everything wonderful. Another love song in the album is called “Your Body is a Wonderland,” which is filled with lyrics that make you wish you were in love.

“Back to You” talks about how we try to go about our day, but our thoughts often wander off and dream about someone special.Mayer?s song about life, called “No Such Thing,” is about finding that things are not always what they seem to be, and that maybe the road less traveled is the best one.

This album was very enjoyable and kept me listening with its variety of different tempos and songs that made it stand out from typical acoustic albums that I have heard before.

3 Stars