Battle Studies

John Mayer has decided to allow his fans to follow the writing process of his fourth studio album, starting at the bare bones. He has dismantled his official website, and swapped it out in favor of a blog. For me personally, there is nothing more intimate an artist can do than to let his fans get as close as is realistically possible. I enjoy watching creativity unfold day by day, seeing how an artist's opinions of his or her own works change, and watching their techniques. The site goes as far as to stray from his work and simply to tell interesting and current accounts of his life as well as things like music and movie recomendations, allowing fans to see what may be inspiring some of the decions he is making.

Mayer refers to this blog as his battle studies, and acknowledges this as his opportunity to give more thanks and appreciation to his fans. I love the idea of an artist allowing his fans come along for the ride, and I hope it is a trend more artists take.

As for the clips of his work he has posted so far, they are very promising. I love Mayer's blues work, but this album seems to show a trand that is melding his blues inspiration with his poppy side, and the results have been promising. 

A clip of his song Half of My Heart:

Or his Kanye-inspired "foray into hip-hop":

These are just some of the hundreds of things he has posted so far. If you want to see what all Mayer has been up to for the last couple of months just click here.