Mayer Hawthorne - Man About Town review: on autopilot in the middle of the road

Mayer Hawthorne has a schtick and it’s one he shows no sign of abandoning on his fourth album.

Pop tunes ablaze with throwback soul and funk trimmings are his stock in trade and Man About Town is full to the brim with sounds and songs which could have held their own in the 1970s or early 1980s.

Hawthorne worked recently with Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates’ fame and that blue-eyed soul has obviously stuck with him here.

Like previous albums, this sounds great, a record which knows all about texture and pitch because songs like Cosmic Love and Get You Back are simply reproducing past glories.

Hawthorne just doesn’t appear to have any desire to challenge himself and is content to keep the record on autopilot in the middle of the road.

It's decent fare, but you've heard the gist of Man About Town many times before.

mayerhawthorne.com