By Zach Gase
In a summer dominated by Blue-Eyed Soul acts like Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke, Mayer Hawthorne has delivered one of the year’s best soul albums. Despite not getting as much mainstream attention as the aforementioned singers, Mayer Hawthorne has improved immensely from his previous work. On his third LP, Where Does This Door Go, he ditches his retro soul vibes while retaining the charm of his earlier projects, to create his best record yet.
One of the biggest upgrades on Where Does This Door Go is Hawthorne’s improved vocals. On previous albums, he overused his limited falsetto chops, which had a tendency to become grating. This time around, he found a nice comfort zone with his range and used his falsetto sparingly and effectively.
Where Does This Door Go has some incredible melodies and vibes, which have always been Hawthorne’s forte. The Innocence has an enchanting chorus which, if it had Timberlake attached to it, would shoot up to the top of the charts. Songs like Her Favorite Song, Crime and Reach Out Richard have a great vibe that should be played during your late summer barbecues and patio parties. Crime, which features Kendrick Lamar’s best 2 Pac impression, is a particularly great cut. From top to bottom, Where Does This Door Go features some brilliant production. With help from a fully-revived Pharrell, Jack Splash, Da Internz and Warren “Oak” Felder, Hawthorne is able to shed that throwback sound that dominated his earlier work.
The only drawback about Where Does This Door Go is its cumbersome length. The album would improve greatly by removing two to three songs. I’d recommend “Robot Love,” which features some pretty cringe-worthy lyrics and overused metaphor, and “The Stars Are Ours,” which is just an uninteresting song.
This album, along with the stellar 3-track EP he released with Jake One under the named “Tuxedo” he released earlier this year, proves that Mayer Hawthorne is one of soul music’s brightest stars. Even though Timberlake and Thicke will do more numbers and get more airplay, it’s pretty safe to say Where Does This Door Go will be among the best soul and pop albums in 2013.
Out of 5
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