John Mayer is finally growing up. Gone is the self-impressed pop balladeer of Heavier Things who claimed he was bigger than his body gave him credit for. In his stead is a jazzy, contemplative crooner whose voice is doing some serious self-searching.

Released in mid-September, Continuum is Mayer’s newest album, boasting a mixture of smooth, jazzy, and acoustic tunes sprinkled with soulful lyrics and a bit of blues.

In the album’s opening track and first single, “Waiting on the World to Change,” Mayer lends smooth instrumentals and his powerful voice to his commentary on the state of the world. His voice echoes those of disaffected youth everywhere in an almost helpless way, singing “it’s hard to beat the system / when we’re standing at a distance / so we keep waiting / waiting on the world to change.” Through his voice, the reason for our waiting becomes clear: We are waiting because there’s nothing else we can do.

Mayer continues along the politically charged path with the album’s third track, “Belief”. Through an eloquent mix of poignant lyrics, bass, guitar, and percussion, he conveys the harsh reality that “we’re never gonna win the world.”

Brightening up Continuum is “The Heart of Life,” a brightly optimistic tune and one of the best on the album. Both the music and lyrics are artfully simple, with only drums and bass to back up Mayer’s message that, in the end, life is good.

The album ends on “I’m Gonna Find Another You,” a bluesy song about a break-up. A seemingly sad topic to end on, Mayer sings, “You might have your reasons / but you will never have my rhymes / I'm gonna sing my way away from blue / I'm gonna find another you.” Ending on this shows his determination to grow from whatever life throws his way and to continue on a path to find himself.

Continuum is the beginning of a new path for John Mayer. A path that strays away from his pop acoustic roots and towards something more soulful and mature. This is just the beginning of his search, but he’s off to a good start.