Maxwell – BLACKsummers’night Review
A friend has been repeatedly asking me every year since 2002: when is Maxwell coming out with new stuff? Technically, this album should have been released last year in 2008. His new work is set to be released as a trilogy, one every year for 3 years. After 7 years… 7 years, Maxwell (a ladies’ favourite) has finally released new material: Blacksummers’ night.
Maxwell’s last full studio album is Now and also the reason why I began listening to him. The Now album was a good mix of modern R&B, jazzy grooves and great soulful vocals. If there is one thing enjoyable about Maxwell, it’s 1) his attention to detail as a musician, and 2) his vocals. He doesn’t perform vocal gymnastics like others, just great, smooth sounding jazzy ad-libs. Looking back, his first 2 albums, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite (1996) and Embrya (1998), should have caught my attention. They were good but at the time perhaps too mature for my taste.
Half of the album is signature Maxwell sounds, combinations of trumpets orchestras and hooky soulful choruses. The other half is Maxwell’s venture into more classic influenced R&B, still with full orchestra but more classic melodies and hooks. The album is enough to keep his fans’ salivating until the next stop from his trilogy, due out in 2010. Clearly, his audience will increase as a 7 year-absence can give existing fans nostalgia of his melodies and gain new appreciative listeners of his style. After all, those who were too young back in 2002 are now old enough and experienced enough to understand the soul-searching love he seeks and ruins.
This album is a classic and updated Maxwell with nothing out of the ordinary. I never did really expect anything avant-garde. Maxwell pioneered a signature sound years ago and is continuously perfecting it by growing in his element. This is, BLACKsummers’ night.
Tags: album
