Just over a year ago, Mayer Hawthorne unveiled his cover of Lorde’s Royals as part of his collaboration with Vevo. In the same recording session, Hawthorne also attempted a fresh cover of Rihanna’s Mikky Ekko cut, Stay.
Well, now that cover has seen the light of day.
Premiered by Esquire earlier this afternoon, the neo-soul singer said that Stay was one of his favourite pop songs in recent memory. “I know it may be surprising for my fans to hear that, but I think that’s one of the best pop songs that’s been written in the past decade….” he says, adding “I mean, I think it’s just a great pop song. That one spoke to me.”
Regarding his cover, Hawthorne adds that he wanted to take the song “to that sexy Barry White funk zone. Any time I’m doing a cover of a song, I’m trying to do it better than the original. I’m trying to beat the original. Otherwise I don’t see the point of doing a cover.”
Stream below; Mayer Hawthorne’s cover of Lorde’s Royals follows after Stay:
