DETROIT – In his new record, Mayer Hawthorne takes us back to the days of Hall and Oats.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan native and Grammy-nominated singer released his fourth studio album, "Man About Town," last week. The ten-track album takes us back to Hawthorne's earlier solo albums.
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"Man About Town is my most personal album yet," said Hawthorne.
The album is considerably less funkadelic than his most recent work -- a collaboration with Jake One, in a group called Tuxedo. It's a slower, more soulful Hawthorne, reminiscent of the "blue-eyed soul" of the 1970s.
"On the new record, I've gotten better at just painting that picture and bringing you into my world," said Hawthorne. "Making you feel like you're there."
Hawthorne produced the record himself, even playing the majority of the instruments heard on the album.
"It was very much like a return to the way that I did the first two albums," said Hawthorne. "But, in just as many ways, it's a progression in that it's something totally different also."
Hawthorne returns to his hometown Ann Arbor this summer, performing at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival on July 1.
Hawthorne is releasing a film noir-inspired video series with the album. Here's the first part.