One of the most anticipated album of the year as well as from the artist himself – Maxwell, has been released. It has been a long wait for Maxwell’s new tune since ‘Now’ in 2001 and he does indeed give us new tunes in this 4th studio album. Wearing a new hairdo, Maxwell delivers an authentic sound of mid tempo neo soul tunes, carrying his sensuous signature sound – mellow, sexy, emotional yet heart wrenching.
The album opens with a sweet beautiful chime sound with Maxwell’s perfect falsetto that slowly builds with more beat and funk in the track ‘Bad Habits’ which asks his lover to forgive him. In this installation, Maxwell tells a story of getting out of a relationship and of letting go, which is hard to do and it reflects in most of the songs.
‘Pretty Wings’, the first single of the album carries the Maxwell sound that we love and recognise, leaving you wanting for more. As what the title says, Maxwell reminisce the prettiness of his love and finds it hard to forget. The story continues with ‘Stoptheworld’ and the beat picks up with ‘Loveyou’ and ‘Fistfuloftears’. Maxwell mellow it down with ‘Playinpossum’, a beautiful ballad which is acoustic ridden with the vivid sound of the guitar, saxophone and vocals.
With all the bittersweet sound of Blacksummers’night, the album leaves us with an instrumental track called ‘Phoenix rising’. Is Maxwell trying to tell us that he will rise again from his previous success and hopefully it’s not another 8 years of waiting. Or maybe it is part of his trilogy master plan – Blacksummer’s night being the first of the trilogy albums. We would like to hear from Maxwell again real soon. 9 tracks from Blacksummers’night is evidently insufficient.
Rating : 8.5/10
Getit : Must have in your collection
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