This site’s esteemed illustrator, Mr Phil Martin, has been touting Mayer Hawthorne for many months now. While I thought “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”, the first track to emerge from his forthcoming album A Strange Arrangement, had pleasingly meaty, vintage soul-inspired production, the track didn’t do a whole lot for me.

I think the video adds a certain something though, partly due to the shock that the guy producing the sounds – and apparently he’s a one-man operation – is a geeky white guy. A geeky white guy you’re going to be hearing a lot about in the next month or so.

Mewonders whether a certain Mr West pilfered that heart-badge motif, too…

Here he is performing a recent rendition of the delicious “Maybe So, Maybe No”:

My personal favourite track from the album, though, is “One Track Mind”. Dismissed by The Guardian (in an otherwise glowing write-up) as “a Motown rewrite”, I find it hard to counter that accusation – so instead I’ll just say that if any genre is worth rewriting, it’s that one.

Getting it right, however, is a whole other matter. “One Track Mind” gets it spot-on, I think, and leaves me wanting more every time I hear it due to the fact that it’s only two minutes long.

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Is that not one of the most perfect pop songs you’ve heard this year? If you’re not sold, try listening to it through headphones.

Pre-order Mayer Hawthorne’s album A Strange Arrangement at Play.com

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