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Exclusive: Download Neo-Soul Singer Mayer Hawthorne's New Covers EP

Free download includes songs by Electric Light Orchestra, Isley Brothers and Chromeo

May 11, 2011 12:05 PM ET
Exclusive: Download Neo-Soul Singer Mayer Hawthorne's New Covers EP

Click to listen to Mayer Hawthorne's new EP, 'Impressions"

Mayer Hawthorne's Impressions EP finds the Los Angeles singer and producer putting his own spin on classic tunes by Electric Light Orchestra and the Isley Brothers as well selections by contemporary acts like Chromeo and Jon Brion. Hawthorne's production style is slick and meticulous, calling back to the rich, elegant sound of early Seventies tracks by Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes while including subtle modern touches. Though his takes on ELO's cheery hit "Mr. Blue Sky" and the obscure soul single "You've Got the Makings of a Lover" are remarkably faithful, it's most thrilling to hear Hawthorne reimagine "Don't Turn the Lights On," a recent track by the Montreal electro duo Chromeo, as an orchestral soul slow jam.

Click here to download it for free.

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Song Stories

“He Will Break Your Heart”

Jerry Butler | 1960

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."

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