Artist Mayer Hawthorne

Recalling the smoother, sensual side of the Motown sound, Mayer Hawthorne (né Andrew Cohen) makes 21st-century soul sides that sound so convincingly retro, they initially flummoxed Stones Throw Records head Peanut Butter Wolf. Like fellow tastemaker Mark Ronson, Wolf was taken with Hawthorne’s mix of buttery falsetto, vintage production techniques, and breakbeats, and in 2009, Stones Throw released A Strange Arrangement. Hawthorne spent the next two years taking festival audiences to (refurbished and repurposed) church while putting out several stopgap releases on Stones Throw. His strong 2011 follow-up, How Do You Do, was preceded by the single “The Walk,” a sweetly vindictive put-down jam that could give Cee Lo a run for his money.

Updated 04/02/2012