John Mayer has made a career of fitting in wherever he damn well pleases, whether it be as a credibility-rich blues guitarist who shows up on The Dave Chappelle Show or a gossip-worthy actress-shagger who shows up in Us Weekly. His face gets plastered everywhere, and he comes away from all of it relatively unscathed. Part of the reason for all of the good will must be his public persona of self-awareness and good humour, but despite all that, one thing he’s never been able to do is infuse that personality into his music.

Whatever his past albums lacked in boyish charm, they usually made up for in deceptively good blues-pop. Battle Studies, though, is just dull. His usually stark lyrics lack bite, and the battlefield theme runs its course early, even becoming comical on “Assassin.” Throw in a Robert Johnson cover and a Taylor Swift duet and pretty soon it’s unclear whether Mayer is supremely confident or just totally unsure of who he is.