Cameron Hawthorn — Mustang E.P. (Review)
With a lot of the music I find, it starts from falling down some sort of rabbit hole. As of recent, I have been trying to find country music that would peak my interests. After falling down one of my music suggestion pit falls, I stumbled upon Cameron Hawthorn. I had been hunting down LGBTQ+ artist and his music popped up. As a gay man in the south, it is always an interesting find to see someone of my community is an overall straight genre. There have been other artists to breakout in the field, such as Ty Herdon and most notably K.D. Lang, but they are for the most part deeply buried. Hawthorn is Kansas native who recently moved to Tennessee to pursue his career in music. The video to his his song “Dancing in the Living Room”, from his most recent EP Mustang, would be his “coming out”. Very interested in what his sound and lyrics would have to offer, I jumped right into this EP. Let’s saddle up to see what Mustang has to offer.
“Mustang” kicks off the EP. This is Hawthorn’s playful take on the lustful feelings you and your partner have for one another. When I first saw the song, I assumed we would be talking about a car, but it’s a referring to getting going like a wild mustang running. The lines, “So giddy-up, giddy-up, come on, let’s go/ Gotta giddy-up, giddy-up, woah/ Lovin’ you is the real thing/ Gets me goin’ like a mustang”, really push this metaphor into drive. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is something I really enjoyed from some of my favorite 90s and early 2000s country tracks.The theme also works very well with the western feel to the song.
“Oh Hot Damn!” is a classic, your getting me hot under the collar, kind of track. The song has a sexy southern country rock feel. Hawthorn sings about the many ways this person’s looks have hime hot in bothered in a very tongue and cheek manner. I do like that the song feels like it harkens back to an era of country music where the music had a more fun-loving nature and heavier “country” music sound. The video see Hawthorn walking into a western bar where the patrons are partaking in square dancing. The video keeps it a little open ended on whether the main male or female dancer has caught his eye. I do really enjoy the songs tone.
“Dancing in the Living Room” is the first song to be released off the EP, released in March of 2019. The song is lovely country ballad with the low hum of gospel inspired organ in the background. Hawthorn lyrics speak lovingly of an evening where you and your partner just break lose and dance to your favorite song in each others arms. The lyrics subtlety touch on love not only between traditionally heterosexual couples, but also LGBTQ+ couples with the lines, “If the neighbors know, we’ll give them a show/ I don’t care either way/ ’Cause we do us and love is love/ Until we grow old and gray…”. This is further explored more overtly in the music video to the song. Showing various couple locked in a loving embrace as they dance to their favorite song, ultimately ending with Hawthorn dancing with the man he is in love with. It’s a very sweet modern country love ballad.
“To Break Hers” is the first song I heard off of the record and the one that stuck out the most in my mind after listening to it. The song sees Hawthorn regretting the relationship he had developed between himself and a woman that has fallen in love with him. He does a fantastic job of painting the picture of a man whose struggling with his own sexuality, struggling with realizing the love he has towards this woman is not the love she’s looking for, and not wanting to break her heart in the process of trying to fix this situation. I think this speaks to me so well as a gay man who struggled up until his early 20s with this sexuality. There was safety in a heterosexual relationship in a southern town that weren’t too kind (at the time) to homosexuals. The problem of knowing your female friend has stronger feelings than you and the fear of both hurting her and outing yourself really speaks to me. The song is a solemn country piano ballad. The video is sees Hawthorn looking back at this relationship from its intimate beginnings to the dissolution of the relationship. This is the strongest song on the EP lyrically. I really hope Hawthorn continues to write more confessional songs.
“Boys” is country western inspired tone to close out the EP. Hawthorn sings about all various activities him and the boys get into. There are fun call outs to some of Hawthorns musical inspirations (Willie, Waylon, and Johnny) and some of the girls too (Dolly, Wynonna, and Loretta). There’s also a call back to the various spirits that he and the boys maybe carrying along with them (Jack, Beam, and Dickel). It a jaunty diddy that will get your hips to shaking by the end of the song.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this EP. Many country artists releasing music today are going with a more sleek pop country sound that is very tired at this point. Hawthorn’s persona on the “Mustang” and “Oh Hot Damn!” take note from the macho man feeling of similar songs from the past, but with a clear twist thats refreshing to hear. I love his openness in “To Break Hers”, my favorite on the EP. I also really love the tenderness of “Dancing in the Living Room”. I look forward to hearing what Hawthorn has to give us with his next project. My favorite tracks:
- “Oh Hot Damn!”
- “Dancing in the Living Room”
- “To Break Hers”
My overall rating: 6 out of 10 bucking broncos!
Cameron Hawthorn’s Website: https://www.cameronhawthorn.com
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