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The Hawthornes New Album - Now Available!


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Here's a stream of conscious review of some of the highlights of the album from me.  Almost every song made my highlight reel.  Short version is: bloody awesome.

“Truth 2 Power” is nearly perfect – It’s a tour-de-force that combines funk, rock, soul, blues, jazz, R&B, & street/beat poetry that absolutely speaks truth 2 power but doesn’t drown in cliché, It delivers its message like a laser guided smart bomb but leaves you feeling good too. There are some great textures throughout the whole track with just enough grit & sauce to satisfy but leave you slightly wanting, and it has an infectious groove that carries you through the whole track. The mid-song collaboration with Supastition, who delivers the verse, coupled in contrast with Ade’s ultra-smooth vocal textures is so compelling that you’d almost want this pairing to appear on every track in some combination It’s that monster.

“Do Betta”, somehow evokes Alan Holdsworth’s “Metal Fatigue” and Herbie Hancock’s Chameleon at the same time. Some great changes beautifully executed on the guitar, with a some nice angular lead lines that make you take note.

Ade’s vocals on “In your Eyes” are gorgeous. So gorgeous I wish he was singing to me and I’m a dude.

“Dances in the Rain” could have been a Toto track – it has some amazing Lukatheresque guitar tones and runs in it, with that classic big chorus feel that isn’t over-wraught. Wow.

“Keep Pushing” draws some comparisons to Living Colour – but without the harshness that you find on a typical LC track. The groove is rounder and the tones less abrasive – it’s just a broader more open track – it’s more like a mashup between Living Colour and the Nevilles ----- Think "Glamour Boys" meet "Hercules"….. in fact the Neville influence here is huge. Great stuff.

“Unstoppable” has an awesome opening guitar figure that has some Lifeson qualities – and as the track kicks off into riffage territory I immediately thought of Rush’s “Superconductor” before the chorus.  The guitar work after the chorus into the second verse was all Don Felder circa 1981 ---- I’d say this track was my favorite except there are several others competing for that position so I’ll just say this one is great great great!

“What If” has a gorgeous sounding trumpet playing on it – and dare I say banjo?  Didn’t expect to hear those two pieces come together. The bass is also really top in this – basically carrying the song with Ade’s vocals. I might have wanted the lyrics to tell a different story here – that trumpet has a melancholy to it that only found resolution in the closing lyric….. What if indeed!

“Whatchugonedoo” – wow – tight track with some real great percussion.  Nice to hear Ade step outside a bit vocal texture wise here - and an amazing 80’s style synth patch as well.  Supastition is back on this track. His verse really holds its own with the percussion here.

“Drive Me Wild” – Just my favorite track for sure – monster guitar – sophisticated as hell --- and I mean that in a great way.  Probably my most favorite song this whole decade – it’s dark, brooding, majestic – I could start listing adjectives.  I get lost in this track all the time. I must have played it 30 or 40 times on soundcloud since it was first shared.

“Seduction” – lovely --- has some Lifesonesque guitar work again with some Herbie Hancock/Stevie Wonder influences…… this one grew on me as the song unfolded. Some great restraint on the guitar….. some surprises in there too during the breakdown/bridge --- and a return to some of the Lukather styled runs before a little Sco finish.. Fantastic track.

Bonus Track: “Funky Gibber” – dug it – nice little good bye….

In summary – this is a very sophisticated and adult album of musicians that clearly love music and have studied and played for a long time and distilled that experience into an album that pays homage to their influences while carving out a very very unique bit of landscape to occupy.

I want to see/hear this band live. I wanna know how this translates into a live performance.

On guitar Mike is a great player and these songs and compositions speak to him being a unique talent that really deserves more exposure recognition.  I’ve heard similar musicianship from lots of Berklee/Jazz program guys, but what you don’t usually hear from those guys are the compelling hooks and musical turns that make stuff exciting and fresh, but also speak to the schooled musical ears listening. Mike’s got that – he’s like a cross-over artist in that respect.

Ade is a superstar vocally --- and it’s clear he’s still finding his voice which is even more exciting – I’m hoping that he continues to grow with this band because he’s really got something special.

Drums – very cool – very tight with some good pocket and sophistication that doesn’t crowd out the songs. It’s obvious that he and Mike must work pretty closely together because I feel the marriage between the two.

Bass was really good – I never once paused and got pulled out of the song by the bass which is great because having and maintaining that bottom layer in these kinds of songs is make or break. Some real solid playing – holding it all together with Ade while the guitars and drums sparkled around the outsides. Real real solid.

Probably the most exciting thing about this album is the idea that it might give birth to a follow up. I wanna know what this band sounds like after gigging with these tunes for 10 months.  I think the road might bring out a little bit more edge (which I think is there) as they get away from the studio environment.

Anyway – thanks Mike – this is just a fantastic album with some amazing songs and you guys are all round a great band. I wish you every success with this for sure.  This is easily going to be on heavy rotation for me. Very inspiring on every level.

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18 hours ago, Dasein said:

Here's a stream of conscious review of some of the highlights of the album from me.  Almost every song made my highlight reel.  Short version is: bloody awesome.

It's not often that we (me) get to read such a thorough review of our recorded music.  I am more than humbled to read your words and I'm grateful that you took a moment - or three - to check out our music and to comment.  Thank you for sharing! 

At this point, I believe only Steve Haynie (from the forum) has had a chance to see the live performance of this album.  Perhaps we can make it to the PacNW to play a few bars for ya sometime soon though!

Thanks again for listening and sharing!

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Mike - it's a totally pro album by a band that is big league capable and big league ready. You guys should be immensely proud of yourselves. I have no idea what happens next as far as the business of music for you guys - that's outside my wheelhouse for sure -- but what you've done and what you offered here is top shelf A+ all pro level music that could stand next to any contemporary artist recording today and fare as well or better by comparison.

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Yes, thanks for the review. I enjoy reading reviews and this one is very informative! It made me listen to the CD again, and that's no mean feat, as I get a lot of music from the library and always have something new in my music rotation to listen to. I'm headed north this weekend on a road trip, a 4 hour drive, so I'll take the CD and listen again. Repeated listenings are the best. you find what grabs you in the songs.

Oh, I've been communicating with my friends in Charlotte about a potential trip to visit, probably in May. I'll have to keep an eye on your performance schedule. I'd love to catch a show.

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6 hours ago, BruceM said:

Yes, thanks for the review. I enjoy reading reviews and this one is very informative! It made me listen to the CD again, and that's no mean feat, as I get a lot of music from the library and always have something new in my music rotation to listen to. I'm headed north this weekend on a road trip, a 4 hour drive, so I'll take the CD and listen again. Repeated listenings are the best. you find what grabs you in the songs.

Oh, I've been communicating with my friends in Charlotte about a potential trip to visit, probably in May. I'll have to keep an eye on your performance schedule. I'd love to catch a show.

That's one of the things that's changed about how we listen to music with access and distribution being blown open with technology - we often don't get to build those relationships with the albums we bought that come about from repeated listens. I've made conscious efforts to try to spend time getting to know the music I've bought -- this year it was Aleks Sever, Vulfpeck, Joe B & Beth Hart (new album), this new Hawthornes release.... So I'm giving them a lot of attention.  I did the same with the Harry Nilsson boxed set a few years ago and it really enriched everything for me.

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