Everybody’s first impression of dapper Dan and Michigan man Mayer Hawthorne is the same. Mine, Kanye West’s, Lily Allen’s, Terry Wogan’s, Beyoncé’s, Mark Ronson’s… actually, the only difference between throwback mogul Ronson and the rest of us, is that his first reaction was captured live on air. “I have no idea what this is, old or new,” he raved after playing a Mayer track on the radio, “but it’s fucking good!”
Channelling the early sounds of Motown, Stax and Def Jam all in one, Andrew Mayer Cohen, aka Mayer Hawthorne makes tunes with such convincing vintage groove, it’s hard to believe that he didn’t pluck them out of his presumably giant record collection. His debut album A Strange Arrangement could be playlisted alongside Hall And Oates, The Temptations, Electric Light Orchestra and Curtis Mayfield and even the most discerning soul fan wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. All this top notch apery, and there’s still room for flashes of Hawthorne’s previous musical incarnation (the 32 year-old was a rapper and hip hop DJ for a decade before he ever sang a note.)
It would be selling Hawthorne short to say that the remarkable hisses and crackles on A Strange Arrangement were just a happy accident, but a tiny budget meant shoddy recording equipment and, in his own words, “crappy instruments”, all of which he had to play himself. The album ended up being an unqualified success, and now, happy in his role as the hipster Smokey Robinson, Hawthorne is ready for a big label and big bucks.
In getting kitted out with a proper band (including horns, backing singers and a particularly theatrical string section), Hawthorne has lost the grainy charm of A Strange Arrangement, and some of its toxic catchiness, but there’s plenty of terrific stuff on How Do You Do to make up the difference. On the new record, classic-sounding soul numbers are pimped out with bouncy fingersnaps, sultry shoops and Barry White-esque spoken word interludes.
Yup, How Do You Do is an album about love, but it’s also an album about making love, breaking up, sleeping around, settling down and the seemingly endless stream of beautiful women who make Mr. Hawthorne act like a doggone fool. Much like the ‘60s doo-wop groups from which he gets his hustle, lyrics are consistently, subtly clever. Take for example the moment on break-up jam ‘The Walk’ when he tells his honey, “You’re shaped like an hourglass, but I think your time’s up.”
If there’s one missed opportunity, it’s Hawthorne’s duet – yes, duet! – with longtime collaborator Snoop Dogg. Mayer’s inter-album cover of Snoop’s ‘Gangsta Luv’ was nothing short of inspired, so it’s a shame that he invites the hip hop legend to croon, rather than rhyme on new track ‘Can’t Stop’. Still, it’s never wise to underestimate a 24-carat musician like Hawthorne. Just look at what he’s done with that haywire voice of his.
One reviewer writing about How Do You Do suggested that Mayer Hawthorne acquaint himself with AutoTune. Well, fuck that. The music industry does not need any more attempts at perfection. What it does need is more people like Andrew Cohen. Why? Because he doesn’t bother himself with making old school music or new school music. He simply creates songs that are totally and triumphantly timeless.