The Village Sessions [IMPORT]

If John Mayer has ants in his pants--and, given his many projects and the amount of music he releases in any given year, it appears that he does--his fans aren't complaining. Nor should they be. The Village Sessions, a six-song EP that retools favorites from Mayer's highly regarded Continuum disc, is mostly a way to feel further connected to him; the hurt comes through on "In Repair" both vocally and via expressive acoustic guitar work, making the Continuum version sound clipped by comparison, and the kicked-back version of "Good Love Is on the Way" (the one song here not from Continuum, but from Try!, a 2005 live disc) dispenses with angst in favor of a more liquid groove. Overall, it's a study in intimacy and focus--for Mayer, there seems to be a certain magic within the four walls of L.A.'s Village Recorder, where he laid down these tracks. Then again, maybe not: Prolific as he is, Mayer is no wand-waver. His reputation for musical pureness proceeds him, and The Village Sessions is one more testament to it. --Tammy La Gorce