Mayer Hawthorne’s debut album A Strange Arrangement grew out of a childhood steeped in Detroit soul.

 

Raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, Hawthorne vividly remembers driving with his father & tuning the car radio in to the rich soul, deep funk & swinging jazz the region provided. As he grew up, & his obsession with soul records grew into a passion & he discovered the same beauty in the polished sound of Isaac Hayes & Curtis Mayfield as he did in the deeper, darker grit of the obscure Symphonic Four & Detroit-cult soul act The New Holidays.

 

Hawthorne was introduced to Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf by mutual friend Noelle Scaggs of The Rebirth – but Wolf thought the two songs he heard were re-edits of old tracks, not brand new songs & certainly not songs that this 29 year old white kid had sung everything & played all of the instruments on! Wolf signed Hawthorne on the spot – the only artist signed to Stones Throw on the strength of two songs.

 

Hawthorne’s hanging-by-a-string falsetto & breakbeat production on his first recorded effort, the tender Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out (on that red, heart-shaped 10” vinyl), are simultaneously Smokey & J Dilla – equal parts The Tracks Of My Tears & Fall In Love. “It’s old soul,” Hawthorne explains, “But it’s new.”

 

A Strange Arrangement draws inspiration from Leroy Hutson, Smokey Robinson & the legendary songwriting & production trio of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland & Eddie Holland Jr. while also revelling in the raw sounds of the independent musicians who aspired to a level of success akin to their famous peers.

 

A Strange Arrangement is an album that underlies a heartfelt nostalgia to the sweet soul of yesteryear. It’s not just throwback music anymore – this revival is all about progression!