John Mayer's "Paper Doll" Is An In The Flesh Knockout

John Mayer is the music world's equivalent of a warm, fresh brewed cup of coffee percolating first thing in the morning. What's more, his back catalog of soon to be classic hits ("Your Body Is a Wonderland", "Daughters", "Waiting On The World To Change") sounds tailor made to serve as a great go-with for every java purveyor from the almighty Starbucks to that quaint little cafe down the street. New from the mind of Mayer is "Paper Doll" whose choral refrain has already graduated to earwig status bouncing around my easily addled cranium. To best appreciate the smokey gusto of the song you'd have to pretend your I-Pod was a newly poured cup of premium blend. Got you in the right frame of mind? Okay, great. Now...please inhale, slow but sure. Don't worry. I can wait. Alrighty then. With the same measured discipline, exhale until the last drop of fresh oxygen has exited your chest. Repeat the procedure at least two more times. If I'm guiding you through the drill competently enough you should start to hear "She's like 22 girls in one, and none of them knows what they're running from." That's the refrain I mentioned earlier. It's ridiculously infectious. If you're a Mayer hater you'll be moved to the same level of  bile in the throat as Big Bang Theory icon Sheldon Cooper yelling "Curse you, Wil Wheaton!!" If you're a Mayer maven the refrain will serve as a welcome distraction from another day of dirty dishes, caffeinated grade schoolers, and the latest rant from your better half about what's gone wrong in his/her life lately. Guitar passages are distributed mirthfully. Arousing bass beneath. B-chord wanderings above. To tell you the truth, John's picked the wrong season to unleash this charmer from the upcoming "Paradise Valley" project in summer. I find it to be more of a winter melody that begs for a cozy sweater as couture accompaniment. Nevertheless, John's come out with a beauty. The voice is as bluesy as y'all remember. There's a classy shuffle effect to the drumming. Irrefutable proof that John's commitment to his art on the heels of recent vocal chord surgery is as dependable as ever. How nice it is that there's at least one 21st century artist on the music scene that's capable of prompting us to utter almost as if the thought had already grown tiresome, "Another shimmering jewel from John Mayer. What a surprise. Yes, folks, there are still performers like this to offer a reassuring break from processed pap. The first step to paradise can be found right here.