Photo : Mark Seliger
John Mayer had not released a solo song since 2021. This Friday, the American singer-guitarist ends that wait with “Tom and Jerry,” a new track that also marks the launch of his own label, Sob Rock Records, in partnership with Mercury Records.
A comeback five years after “Wild Blue”
Since “Wild Blue,” off his 2021 album Sob Rock, Mayer had not put out a solo single. He spent the intervening years on his Dead & Company residency, occasional tours and quiet collaborations, never announcing a new album. The wait ended on his 49th birthday, October 16, when he shared a black-and-white teaser showing two people handcuffed together, paired with a promise: “I’ll run away with you.” The song first aired exclusively on October 22 on his own SiriusXM channel, “Life with John Mayer,” ahead of a worldwide release this Friday, October 23, across streaming platforms.
The title “Tom and Jerry” has nothing to do with the cartoon: Mayer has said it was simply the name he gave the first voice memo he saved when the idea for the song came to him. He explained as much on social media, saying the adventure began right there, before it took months to turn that spark into the finished track. The result is an ’80s-leaning pop ballad, produced by Mayer himself with Blake Slatkin, mixed by Serban Ghenea and recorded at Chaplin Studios, continuing the aesthetic he first explored on Sob Rock.
Sob Rock Records, a label built on his own terms
Beyond the single, the bigger story here is structural: Mayer is launching Sob Rock Records, his own imprint, with Mercury Records (a Universal Music Group division) handling distribution. The name echoes his last album, a deliberate nod to the sound he has kept refining for years, somewhere between polished pop and blues guitar.
“Working with Tyler Arnold and the talented team at Mercury Records has already proven to be a great partnership,” Mayer said.
Mayer describes the process as easier and more rewarding than before, and says he feels inspired about what comes next. Starting his own label after more than two decades on major labels gives him control over timing and creative direction — an increasingly common move for established artists looking to break free of the once-every-three-or-four-years album cycle and release music, track by track, on their own schedule.
No album has been announced alongside the launch. For now, “Tom and Jerry” stands as a stand-alone single, Mayer’s way of testing his new setup before committing to anything bigger.
Sphere, the other big date on his 2027 calendar
This comeback lands in a pivotal year for Mayer, who is also readying his first headlining residency at Sphere in Las Vegas, after already appearing there with Dead & Company. Each night will unfold in three parts: a solo set, a full-band set, and a reunion of the John Mayer Trio with Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan, two musicians he hadn’t shared a stage with in years.
Originally set for six shows, the residency has already been expanded to twenty-one dates between April and June 2027, all sold out by the time of the announcement — a sign of just how loyal Mayer’s audience remains even in the quiet stretches between releases.
Between a new label, a new single and an outsized residency, John Mayer is proving once again that he remains one of his generation’s most listenable artists when it comes to balancing guitarist’s craft with pop instinct. Whether “Tom and Jerry” turns out to be a one-off or the first step toward a new album — his first under his own banner — remains to be seen.
