REVIEW: BLACKsummersnight (Townsville Bulletin)
Long time coming
BLACKsummers’ night
Maxwell
MAXWELL’S fourth album has been a long time coming – eight years, to be exact. The Brooklyn singer was apparently unsure if music was his true vocation.
A reinvigorated Maxwell intends to present a trilogy of albums over three years, this being the first. That’s the plan, anyway. Maybe Maxwell’s label will have other ideas, or his perfectionism will intervene.
Eight years is an eon in pop culture and the enigmatic muso has picked up where he left off with 2001′s Now, his most mainstream R&B album.
Ironically, the lead single, PrettyWings, is among the less instant numbers – a wistful but bland ballad. HelpSomebody is buoyant, just the thing to rouse ‘em in live shows. The album’s standout is the gently swinging LoveYou, Maxwell pleading with a non-committal lover, his vocal cracking. The jazzy finale, PhoenixRise, is all too brief.
BLACKsummers’night lacks the beguiling songs of Maxwell’s classic 1996 debut, Urban Hang Suite, which chronicled a passionate affair.
Sadly, BLACKsummers’night is Maxwell and neo-soul as formula.
>> review by Cyclone Wehner
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