When Dam-Funk covered Human League, it wasn't exactly a shocker. But this? Thoroughly unexpected.

Culver City blue-eyed soul guru Mayer Hawthorne has just released what seems to be an unsolicited cover of “Held the Hand” by legendary home-recorder Daniel Johnston.

Unsolicited because these things are usually tied to one sort of compilation or another celebrating Johnston's unlikely celebrity and bounteous body of work.

But this has just popped up in the Stones Throw news feed like so many announcements about MF DOOM's spurious in-person appearances.

So is it as odd a fit as one might expect?

Surprisingly, no. Lyrics about holding hands with the devil and yearning for a lost love fit right in with Hawthorne's vintage R&B aesthetic. And considering Hawthorne's fast-rising (risen?) status, the line about MTV rings a bit true as well.

DOWNLOAD: Mayer Hawthorne – “Held the Hand” (Daniel Johnston cover) [MP3]

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