Seven years later, and it’s still a shorter hiatus than D’Angelo’s decade-and-a-half wait. I’d still say this one was worth it. I’m no dedicated fan, so I wasn’t exactly counting the days (or shall I say years) until this worthy sequel came around. I’d say it may even be better than BLACKsummer’snight. In 2016, the decade of Frank Ocean’s, The Weeknd’s, Miguel’s, and (ugh) Chris Brown’s, Maxwell still sounds remarkably fresh. Not modern, but there’re just some sounds that will never tire if done right. Again, he’s no R&B messiah like D’Angelo, but he’s simply nothing more, nothing less than a quality act. He might be your preference for setting the mood, but he’s probably not your first choice for much else when you can listen to the other R&B giants. Nevertheless, I thank and respect him for pulling us out of the perversion that is 90’s hip-hop R&B.
Maxwell’s never been a genius of the genre, but I’m not sure if he even tries to be. A great singer, but no musician like say Questlove or Anderson .Paak. So it makes sense that his voice is always at the forefront of the music rather than the horns or guitar. Sensual, he is, no doubt, but I prefer the more cathartic moments, which I is why I practically melt when he belts out raw emotion. It’s rare, but it’s such a pleasure when it does happen, like in the groovy favorite of mine, “III”. It’s understandable too; he’s calm, cool, and collected. It’s not like him to shout his professions of love…unless Cupid keeps targeting him. As far as my ears are concerned, I hope that keeps happening.
One remarkable trait about this trait, at least in comparison to his earlier ones, the sounds aren’t as repetitive. Many will be seduced by his voice and the neo-soul arrangements, but other than the tempo changes, his past records have had little variation in sound. As one of the purveyors of neo-soul, I doubt he was in a hurry to change his sound. Unlike the 90’s hip-hop R&B artists, his particular subgenre wasn’t saturated to the brim with generic mediocrities. But Maxwell still has to make great records regardless of how unique he might be. This is why blackSUMMERS’night is an improvement over his past work. He’s no longer relying on halfway-decent song-structures to carry the weight. These songs have similar moods, but none are pure carbon-copies of one another. The psychedelic soul of “1990x” is immensely different than any other song Maxwell has done, and probably one of his best. Not all the songs are as memorable as the highlights, but the listener’s hardly going to care when they’re making babies to this smooth-as-hell music. Like a lot of good background R&B, it serves its main purpose and then some. A-
(Key Tracks: “1990x”, “Lake by the Ocean”, “III”)
