27 November 2020 - 0 Comments

Vocal powerhouse Hawkins returns today with his brand new single Can’t Leave It Alone, giving fans and followers a sneak peak of what’s still to come on his debut album, which will be out in early 2021.

Listen to Can’t Leave It Alone.

A pop song at heart, with touches of soul, funk and R&B, Can’t Leave It Alone addresses the relatable issue of keyboard warriors and backstabbers.

“It’s a prolific problem within society - people are now able to state an opinion without warrant of fear of reprimand. Over the years, I have experienced such judgements for simply being myself,” says Hawkins. “It became one of my focuses to encourage our rangatira to feel comfortable in their own skin and to question and/or challenge the status of societal views,” he adds.

A sonic tribute to the legendary Prince, which draws on funk, soul, neo-soul and R&B nuances, with D’angelo-esque backing vocals, Can’t Leave It Alone is an effortlessly cool tune, which showcases Hawkins’ unmistakable voice. Hawkins also co-produced the track with Christian Mausia.

The song is accompanied by a video, which sees Hawkins’ cloned into multiple identities and dance around in joyful protest to the lyrical content. Filmed by Westone Productions, it was directed and produced by Hawkins himself, with John Hettig and Heinrich Hettig on director of photography duties.

Can’t Leave It Alone follows the album’s already-released singles I Couldn’t Tell It All, Fireflies and Streetlights, as well as a series of live recordings and videos for All This Time, What Have You Done and Lost Ones, which also feature on the album as studio recordings.

The album, which is due for release in February, is a personal collection of songs Hawkins has written throughout the years. “It deals with a lot of loss. It’s sonically nostalgic, drawing on the influences that made me fall in love with music and I’ve tried to put as many of those as I could into 12 songs,” he says.

No stranger to the stage, Hawkins has spent the best part of the last 15 years wowing audiences across Aotearoa as a backing/session vocalist for artists such as Stan Walker, Vince Harder and Sola Rosa; as well as performing in countless bands, including the Levites and the Hipstamatics.

Find Hawkins here.

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