Album Review: John Mayer - Paradise Valley

Enter cautiously. Ignore Mayer's previous public douchebaggery and collapse into this, his sixth album. Jarringly impressive, Mayer evokes a Western tilt in opener, Wildfire, and Dear Marie, before slowing things down on the soft rock duet with current squeeze Katy Perry on Who You Love. Frank Ocean earns his worth on Wildfire, a 1:28 interlude that will break your heart and leave it torn, while honky-tonk chagrin paints the wittily depressing You're No One 'Til Someone Lets You Down. Here's hoping Paradise Valley sets Mayer on the road to musical redemption.