John Mayer launches Sob Rock Records with new single “Tom and Jerry”

John Mayer has released “Tom and Jerry,” his first solo single since 2021’s *Sob Rock*, and used the occasion to introduce Sob Rock Records. The song arrived October 23 alongside a live-vocal performance video, giving the launch both a studio version and a close, performance-led presentation. Universal Music Canada says the new imprint is being operated in partnership with Mercury Records, linking Mayer’s independent brand to the distribution and infrastructure of a major label.

The track was produced by Mayer and Blake Slatkin, mixed by Serban Ghenea and recorded at Chaplin Studios. Its title came from the original voice memo Mayer made when the idea first appeared, a detail that fits the release’s deliberately direct framing. The official video keeps the focus on Mayer singing and playing rather than wrapping the song in a narrative concept, while the studio release is available as a standard Spotify track rather than a teaser or pre-save page.

Sob Rock Records is the larger strategic move. Mayer has spent the years since *Sob Rock* balancing solo shows, full-band dates, trio performances and his role in Dead & Company, but this is the first new solo recording to arrive under a label identity of his own. Mercury’s involvement means the imprint is not simply a vanity logo: it creates a structure for Mayer’s forthcoming releases while leaving the presentation tied closely to his established *Sob Rock* world.

For guitar players, the release is notable less as a technical showcase than as a clear reset of Mayer’s recorded-music cycle. The single, the live-vocal video and the new label all point in the same direction: new material is moving again, and Mayer is controlling the frame in which listeners first encounter it.