Hawthorne Headhunters

Today we're premiering the new single from the Hawthorne Headhunters - 'Everyone Wants To Be Alive'. The collaborative track is from the the group's upcoming LP 'Fools Paradise' and features vocals from Coultrain, Black Spade and Joi (of the Dungeon Family). Check it out below! Also, catch Hawthorne Headhunters on tour with Hiatus Kaiyote for their midwestern tour dates in Minneapolis and Chicago.
By Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK Contributor
. - Afropunk

Following up on the release of an introductory EP last October, St. Louis-based duo, Hawthorne Headhunters delivers with their debut album, The Myriad of Now, out via indie label Plug Research.

At their inception, Hawthorne Headhunters was a four-person collective including producers Proh Mic and Ced. However, the two left to focus on solo projects…leaving just emcee Black Spade and singer Coultrain to carry the torch. The combination of their distinctive styles–reflected on their solo ventures To Serve With Love (Black Spade) and The Adventures of Seymour Liberty (Coultrain), respectively–results in a unique and eclectic project.

The 14-track album combines hip-hop, electronic sounds, jazz and R&B with various topics of spirituality and sexuality. Some songs from their EP are revisited here, like, “If U Were My Baby (Reprise),” “Collage,” and “No Crying Now, No Lyin’ Down,” with added depth, however. The blend of the two, in addition to a host of well-executed features from artists like: Haz Solo, Rockwell Knuckles and I Am make for a creative product and a good listen.

The album opens with “Some People Don’t Change” which sets the tone for what follows with headnodding production, and interesting lyrics: “Instead of kissing our ass it’s the God in you/ You should know better by now/ Some people don’t change.” “Collage,” which features Rockwell Knuckles and Tef Poe, follows suit while the vintage-sounding “Luv Galactic,” featuring vocalist I Am, has an amazing make-you-dance vibe.

One of the first singles from the album and EP, “If You Were My Baby (Reprise)” is revisited with the full song/prequel “If You Were My Baby,” which again has a vintage feel that shows off Coultrain’s voice to perfection. The reprise version of the song, has more mellow production and will for sure be one of the female favorites on the album with lyrics like, “Kissing you is like sitting on the moon with the stars in my hand.” Other album standouts come in the form of “Boats In Ur Eyes,” “No Cryin Now, No Lyin Down,” “Teleport,” which was the first visual from the album, “Whirlwind,” “Fairweather,” featuring Haz Solo and Von Pea, not to mention the two instrumental songs, “Ghostfields,” and “Tribute.”

In short, despite their reduction in numbers Hawthorne Headhunters have managed to create a great debut album and solid listen from start to finish. This album is must-have in any music lover’s collection.

– Erin Duncan - OkayPlayer

Grown Kids Radio presents the Off The Beaten Tracks Indiegogo campaign and debuts the Hawthorne Headhunters track “Rebel Tonite” (Strange Pigs) from their forthcoming Off The Beaten Tracks EP. The project dubbed a “future classic” is slated to drop on limited-edition vinyl featuring artwork from world-renowned artist Aaron De La Cruz. The project boasts contributions from a laundry list of future forward musicians including Miles Bonny, B. Lewis, Ohmega Watts, Starship Connection, The Pendeltons and Mophono. Black Spade and Coultrain of the Hawthorne Headhunters navigate their St. Louis roots and the ongoing conflict in Ferguson, Missouri prompted by the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown with their contribution “Rebel Tonite” (Strange Pigs) – a plodding funk that dissects the dangers of life in a police state with a hook rooted in the spirit of peaceful protest and solidarity. Check the track below to listen to “Rebel Tonight” (Strange Pigs) from Hawthorne Headhunters. Get more information about the Off The Beaten Tracks campaign, preview the project and donate via Indiegogo. Follow Hawthorne Headhunters on Twitter. Stay tuned for more from Grown Kids Radio. - OkayPlayer

I promise you that last song “Teleport” alone was good enough to warrant a purchase of Hawthorne Headhunters new LP. But Black Spade and Coultrain do you 14 better than that, the full Myriad of Now LP just dropped today for a mere $7.99 via Plug Research. They’re offering up a free download of track #8 “Yellow Cougar” and you can stream the rest of the album via AOL for this week only. This album has been years in the making and the final product is an amazing collection of progressive soul music – buy it. - OkayPlayer

After teasing unsuspecting fans with a five-song taster of their latest, though surprisingly long-brewing, project, Hawthorne Headhunters members Black Spade and Coultrain return from the kitchen with the sizzling and wholly fulfilling main course in their now expanded Myriad of Now full-length. Striding around in a fit of intoxicated swagger, induced by heavy doses of '80s-era synth funk, future-facing electronics, an expansive rhythmic pace and strong touches of love-drunk soul, the record's varied works please your head, heart and tailbone in equal measure. Guest soulstress I Am holds down a pair of dance floor-filling love jams in "Luv Galactic" and "Boats In Your Eyes," which act as a straight-up stylistic counterpoint to more adventurous turns like psycho story "My Sweetheart the Drunk" and the double-time electro groove of "Hole in the World." Both Spade and Coultrain match their flavourful vocal melodies with clever lyrical themes throughout, the former showing equally creative dexterity in his rapped barbs and observations. Even the building emotional drip of lone instrumental "Ghostfields" finds a vacant easy chair in your mind to stretch out in on a record that definitely elevates the past work of its two main co-conspirators to new and impressive heights. (Plug Research) - Exclaim.ca