INTERVIEW: Return of a Recluse (Times Union)
After an 8-year break, Maxwell reappears
By BETHANY BUMP, Special to the Times Union
First published in print: Thursday, July 16, 2009
We’ve seen it before: the hot young singer du jour soars to the top of the charts … then vanishes. He or she is remembered as yet another one-hit wonder, or is derailed by the curse of the sophomore slump.
Neo-soul singer Maxwell, however, is not such a cliche. True, he disappeared from the music scene, but now, after an eight-year hiatus, he’s back with his long-awaited fourth album, “BLACKsummer’snight,” which was released July 7.
The album is the first of a trilogy scheduled to be released over the next three years. “BLACKsummer’snight” is about love lost, Maxwell said in a recent phone interview. The second installment of the trilogy will be about love found and the third about love made, he says.
To promote “BLACKsummer’- snight,” the Brooklyn-based crooner will be touring this summer. He recently headlined the 2009 Essence Music Festival July 4, and now he’s coming to Albany for a show Tuesday at the Palace Theatre, along with his 10-piece band of horns, singers, keyboardists and guitarists.
Collectively, the three albums will contain 21 songs, a good number to put out into the world, Maxwell believes. “I kind of wanted to bring it back to ‘less is more.’ I wanted to give people time to absorb the music. When I first recorded them all, I thought it was a lot to give people, a lot to expect of people. So I thought, ‘Let’s spread it out.’ It just feels eventful to me to do it that way.”
The soul singer’s disappearance from the airwaves at the height of his career was a big surprise to his fans. But Maxwell said he thought it was unnatural for one person to be the focal point of media attention, so before that could happen, he disappeared. That kind of voluntary flight from the spotlight is rare in today’s age of unabashed self-promotion and the hot pursuit of fame. But the singer believes he had more to offer his fans by taking the time off.
In his eight-year furlough, Maxwell took advantage of his self-prescribed anonymity by working on music for his own ears. He enjoyed day-to-day things and spent time “growing creatively,” he said.
“It’s not me,” he said. “I just never ever saw myself being that person and I think over time people will understand that. But it’s difficult in our society because people assume that once you get the chance to be in the limelight, then why wouldn’t you want to constantly be in the glare of it? It just doesn’t make sense to me that anybody would want that. I enjoy having something creative to say and then when it’s done, it’s nice to smell the roses and experience life.”
Maxwell skyrocketed to fame after his debut album, 1996′s “Urban Hang Suite,” received a Grammy nomination for best R&B album and went on to achieve double platinum status. The critical acclaim seemed like a natural progression when he signed with Columbia Records at the age of 21 — before that, he’d already written more than 300 songs.
Maxwell achieved gold status with a live rendition of “This Woman’s Work” on “MTV: Unplugged” in 1997. He staved off one-hit wonderdom a year later with his platinum selling sophomore album “Embrya.” His next album, “Now,” sold a million copies in 2001.
“I feel like I’ve grown,” Maxwell said. “Obviously, I’m more mature and a lot older. I feel more secure creatively. I feel like sometimes people who are in the public eye — they stand still a little bit emotionally because there’s nothing but things regarding them always happening around them. I feel like a person more, you know?”
Maxwell sounds like a person — not an overproduced radio-ready gem — on his fourth studio album. “BLACKsummer’snight” plays off the ears in a clean, sweet way. The R&B songster doesn’t employ today’s popular synth sounds and Kanye-d out auto tuning in his melodies. He’ll make some fans swoon with the up-tempo “Love You” and remorseful “Pretty Wings,” a song about untimely love and breakup.
Emerging from anonymity can be tough. There’s a risk of being written off. There’s a chance of dismal album sales and “Who is this guy again?” murmurings. These risks aren’t high on Maxwell’s list of concerns.
“I’m not a numbers guy. I’m not gonna lie — it’s nice to have things sell,” he laughs. “But, you know, I like when my fans just genuinely can’t wait to put (the album) in their car. It’s been a beautiful feeling — to know that you can touch people in your life and your world and your struggles. So I’m grateful.”
Bethany Bump, a Times Union intern, will be a junior at Syracuse University this fall. She can be reached at 454-5460 or by e-mail at bbump@timesunion.com.
Maxwell
Where: The Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Cost: $39.50, $59.50, $125
Contact: 465-3334; http://www.palacealbany.com
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