Buy Now
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Entertainment WeeklyJul 16, 2013Hawthorne finally finds the right sonic escort for his L.A. lounge-lizard croon: Pharrell Williams. [19 Jul 2013, p.87]
-
Jul 15, 2013Where Does This Door Go improves over his last effort, which was already pretty good to begin with, and may go down as one of the year’s most exceptional releases. Where Does This Door Go is as refreshing as a tropical breeze, if not a good cup of joe at your favorite hangout.
-
Jul 25, 2013Ultimately, Mayer Hawthorne has created his most complete and compelling piece of art yet, taking risks, experimenting, and looking to expand his already defined palate.
-
Jul 16, 2013Upon a first listen, Where Does This Door Go may be a lot to take in, as it covers a wide range of sounds and styles in its 52-minute runtime, but it also packs an immediate punch, and Hawthorne’s growth as a composer is evident by the end of the first song, making this easily his best album to date.
-
MagnetAug 16, 2013Hawthorne's songwriting, crisply appointed arrangements and effortlessly gratifying croon feel more casually confident than ever, making This Door a third straight slam dunk. [No. 101, p.55]
-
Jul 29, 2013Michigan auteur Hawthorne has synthesised his influences into perfect power pop, with the help of producers including Pharrell Williams.
-
Jul 16, 2013Hawthorne mines polyester grooves, crackly sample beds and rich, analog production for his vintage soul sound, and it’s a wonderfully sumptuous thing.
-
Jul 15, 2013With Where Does This Door Go, Hawthorne's falsetto-inflected voice has become more commanding, his production more intriguing and his indie-soul aspirations have morphed into mainstream ambitions.
-
Jul 15, 2013Hawthorne's muse is steeped in '70s influences--notably falsetto and symphonic-soul giants like Curtis Mayfield and Barry White, while trailing threads of piercing lead guitar through songs like “Wine Glass Woman” and “Corsican Rose” bring to mind Ernie Isley's work on “Summer Breeze”.
-
Jul 18, 2013Inconsistency or complexity? Depends on how much you believe in this music as sincere self-expression versus its status as smartly crafted, artist-as-listener-proxy pop.
-
Jul 16, 2013Despite dipping into hip-hop and reggae, there are footnotes to ’70s pop throughout. That doesn’t diminish the sheer pleasure of the tunes’ playful intentions, but Hawthorne’s DJ crate-digging tendencies seem to be bleeding into his songwriting.
-
Jul 16, 2013For those awaiting more of Hawthorne’s soul revivalism, his new carefree mentality has also had a positive effect on the songwriter’s more straightforward soul affairs.
-
Jul 16, 2013For all of his apparent devotion to the genre, Hawthorne comes off somewhat soulless on Where Does This Door Go.
-
Jul 15, 2013Wherever this door does go, it is a place that calls for boat shoes, a relaxed attitude, and a returning fan's patience.
-
Jul 15, 2013Packed with cleverly crafted production, Where Does This Door Go may be a sonic adventure, but it's not quite slick enough to challenge the current crop of R&B luminaries.
-
Jul 16, 2013Where Does This Door Go feels like a once-promising OK Cupid date that's gone off the rails.
-
Jul 16, 2013From modest goals come modest returns.
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 14 out of 14
-
Mixed: 0 out of 14
-
Negative: 0 out of 14
-
Oct 2, 2013
-
Sep 9, 2013
-
Jul 18, 2013