BLACKsummers'night

Performer: Maxwell (R&B)
Engineer: Glen Marchese; Jesse Gladstone; Benedetto Nino Caccauale; Hod David; MUSZE; Mike Pela
Producer: Hod David; MUSZE; Hod David; MUSZE
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Hod David (various instruments, guitar); Musze (various instruments); Kenneth Whalum III (saxophone); Keyon Harrold (trumpet); Saunders Sermons (trombone); Shedrick Mitchell (organ); Federico Pena, Federico Pena (keyboards); Derrick Hodge (bass instrument); Chris 'Daddy' Dave, Chris Dave (drums). Audio Mixers: Glen Marchese; Mike Pela. Recording information: Bowery Digital, New York, NY; Chung King Recording Studios, New York, NY; Platinuim Sound Recording Studios, New York, NY. Photographer: Eric L. Johnson. It's been eight long years between Maxwell's third and fourth studio albums. BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT is the first release of a trilogy, with BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT(rooted in gospel, with a twist, apparently) and BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT(promised as a disc of slow jams) to follow. Just as Maxwell arrived in 1996, offering an alternative to the exaggerated masculinity that was dominating contemporary R&B, he returns when the airwaves are still stuffed with raging hormones. He has made no concessions to them however--the highly romantic BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT is all devotion, regret, and heartache. Maxwell's backing musicians morph with every shift in emotion through arrangements that are unfailingly exquisite and sensitively nuanced, even when briskly played. And if the singer got into any adventures while he was away, he does not detail them during these 38 unified minutes. He did go through a serious, failed relationship however, just as "Pretty Wings," the album's floating pre-album single, suggests. Like the real-life flip side to Al Green's "Simply Beautiful"--which Maxwell performed at the 2008 BET Awards, signaling his return--it's catharsis through bittersweet elegance, as is the album as a whole. Maxwell spent part of the eight years between his third and fourth studio albums walking the Earth, attempting to experience a life resembling that of a human. One of neo-soul's most visible faces, along with Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo, he had been on the music industry's hamster wheel for most of his twenties and needed some tangible inspiration. At some point he got down to scheming and quite a lot of recording; BLACKsummers'night is the first release of a trilogy, with BlackSUMMERS'night (rooted in gospel, with a twist, apparently) and Blacksummers'NIGHT (promised as a disc of slow jams) to follow. Just as he arrived in 1996, offering an alternate option to the exaggerated masculinity that was dominating contemporary R&B, he returns as the airwaves are stuffed with raging hormones expressed through Auto-Tune. He has made no concessions to them. BLACKsummers'night is all devotion, regret, and heartache, written with Now collaborator Hod David and played by a session band, including a horn section, that sounds closer to a touring band that has been supporting the singer for years. The musicians morph with every shift in emotion through arrangements that are unfailingly exquisite and sensitively nuanced, even when they are briskly played. If the singer got into adventures while he was away, he does not detail them during these 38 unified minutes, but he did go through a serious, failed relationship, just as "Pretty Wings," the album's floating pre-album single, suggested. Like the real-life flip side to Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" -- the song Maxwell performed at the 2008 BET Awards, signaling his return -- it's catharsis through bittersweet elegance, equal in its enamored resentment ("You toyed with my affliction/Had to fill out my prescription") and remorse ("I came wrong, you were right/Transformed your love into like"). Although the rest of the album leaves plenty of space for the most common form of pleading, the disarming "Fistful of Tears" is as impassioned as the steamiest moments and indicates the complexity of Maxwell's relationship: "'Cause I go insane, crazy sometimes/Trying to keep you from losing your mind/Open your eyes, see what's in front of your face/Save me my fistful of...tears." For all its dimensions and progress, the album is simultaneously designed to ensure that devoted fans will feel the wait was worth it. After all, its opening lines are "Make me crazy, don't speak no sound/I want you to prove it to me in the nude," and they are sung in falsetto. ~ Andy Kellman

Rolling Stone (p.78) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[B]allads like the mesmeric 'Pretty Wings' prove he's an auteur in his own right, with surprising digressions and crescendos that mirror the songs' conflicted emotions." Spin (p.90) - "Maxwell is coming back with a flourish....[The album is] grittier and less New Age-y than his previous work..." Billboard (p.28) - "Full of heart-pounding melodies and true-to-life love stories....BLACKSUMMER'SNIGHT is a testament that Maxwell hasn't lost a beat." XXL (Magazine) (p.117) - "[T]he irrefutable allure of `Bad Habits' and the honeyed harmonies of `Love You' are Maxwell's reminder that some subjects remain timeless." Pitchfork (Website) - "Heartbreak is a constant in popular music....[This] is a deeply moving and evocative record that finds the singer expounding on this universal feeling like few can."

In the hip-hop mid 1990s, neo-traditionalist R&B singer Maxwell had the nerve to look back to the aesthetics of '70s soul for inspiration, specifically to the influence of Al Green and Marvin Gaye. More surprisingly, he was able to pull it off, becoming a mega-star after the release of his masterly debut, MAXWELL'S URBAN HANG SUITE, a concept album about monogamy that rejected male braggadocio and instead explored the theme of old-fashioned, romantic love. Since then, he's actively worked toward becoming even more of a latter-day Reverend Green, with songs that walk the tightrope between spirituality and sensuality.

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