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.
Maxwell has released the new video for his second single, "Bad Habits". The video features Keri Washington as the leading lady. His album BLACKsummers'night is currently doing very well on the charts.
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Sound-Savvy reviews the new album from neo-soul star Maxwell, entitled BLACKsummers'night. Album in stores now featuring the hit singles Pretty Wings and Bad Habits. Save
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Unfortunately, I do not have Sirus radio. I am so curious to know what is on his playlist.Fortunately, I saw this "tweet" from The Latest Maxwell News saying that maxwell is DJ'ing for the next 2 hours. If you have Sirus radio, please check it out: (I don't have Sirius : X and not to sure if I am going to sign up. I know *slap me* I am a bad fan!) http://www.sirius.com/heartandsoulDon't forget ...
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Maxwell has released the new video for his second single, "Bad Habits". The video features Keri Washington as the leading lady. His album BLACKsummers'night is currently doing very well on the charts.
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Here's Maxwell's second single, "Bad Habits" off of his Black Summer's Night lp in stores now. The video features the oh so beautiful miss Kerry Washington & Mari White. Gotta love it!Download: Maxwell - Bad Habits (track)Previous: Maxwell - Pretty Wings
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Artist's Latest #1 Album, BLACKsummers'night, Available Now NEW YORK, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Maxwell will return to the road in late September for a series of select North American concert dates, his first since wrapping a sold-out summer tour in early August. Maxwell's highly anticipated autumn tour kicks off at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto...
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Sound-Savvy reviews the new album from neo-soul star Maxwell, entitled BLACKsummers'night. Album in stores now featuring the hit singles Pretty Wings and Bad Habits. Save
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OKP brings you Maxwell’s Instrumental Remix EP, produced by MeLo-X. We gave you a sample track from the project last week, and now you can hear the full six track instrumental EP of Maxwell’s BLACKsummers’ night as remixed by MeLo-X. MeLo is definitely making a bold move by touching up an album so new and so widely heralded.Download: Maxwell- BLACKsummers'night Intsrumental Remix EPThe Young
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Whew, whew and whew! Here is the new video from Maxwell for his song "Bad Habits" off of his album Blacksummers'night in stores now.This video is hot and sultry and made me crave a shot of tequila and a cigarette ....and I don't even smoke!The video stars the beautiful Kerry Washington and she and Maxwell get naughty and nice shirtless and sweaty (I'm exaggerating just a bit) in a scene made fo...
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Directed by Anthony MandlerBLACKsummers'night in stores now!The Young Kingz Daily 2.0
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No new hip hop in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart but Maxwell's BLACKsummers'night debuts at no. 1 with a "career-high sales week of 316,000". Top 10 Albums on the Billboard 200: 1. Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night 2. Soundtrack - Hannah Montana 3 3. Now That's What...
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I love articles that try to redefine music genres. As you know, the perception of a genre is much more static than music itself. Excellent webpage Popmatters.com has a comprehensive introduction of the music of famous soul artist Maxwell – who recently released the album BLACKsummers’night. I quote from the article about his album Embrya [...]
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At a time when music has been saturated with money and the heart of a lyric has been replaced by auto-tune, it couldn’t have been a better moment in time for Maxwell to reappear into the music...* Summary only. Visit the site for full article!
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Bad Habits |
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| 2 Cold |
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| 3 Pretty Wings |
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| 4 Help Somebody |
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| 5 Stop the World |
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| 6 Love You |
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| 7 Fistful of Tears |
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| 8 Playing Possum |
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| 9 Phoenix Rise |
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 "BLACKsummers'night")
