I realize that I’m in the minority, but I thought it was a good call for Mayer Hawthorne to switch his sound up on his latest album, Where Does This Door Go? It took me a minute to get into it, but I’d retroactively place it amongst my top ten albums released in 2013. Not that I didn’t enjoy his first two albums, but his presentation (and his slavish devotion to recreating the sounds of ’60s Motown & ’70s Philly Soul) made me wonder how much of his sound was tribute vs. how much was parody.¹
I’ve lost track of how many videos have been released from Where Does This Door Go?, but the latest is for “Crime.” With a guest rap by Kendrick Lamar, it probably represents the perennially underground Hawthorne’s most obvious play for some radio love. If I had a radio station, I’d play it.
(and the video is directed by Rashida Jones, who I have nursed a crush on for quite some time.)
Meanwhile, over on Okayplayer (the site I probably frequent most these days,) I uncovered this soulful cover of Rihanna’s “Stay,” recorded by Mayer and his crew. I dig the Barry White/Isaac Hayes spin that they put on their cover. It’s not the only recent hit Mayer’s covered recently; I remember a version of Lorde’s “Royals” spreading across the ‘net earlier this year.
“Stay”‘s a pretty durable song. Rihanna’s version is stellar, and I also like the job my boys Tommy & The High Pilots did with it. Except now they’re not Tommy & The High Pilots anymore–they just changed their name to Beta Play. Regardless, their version of “Stay” is good, too. Check it below.
¹-I feel the same way about Chromeo.