BLACKsummer's Night

7-7-09 Maxwell's long awaited album dropped and although it may have been slightly overshadowed by the illustrious funeral of Michale Jackson it was definitly not forgotten. The album, BLACKsummer's Night is a breath of fresh air and a return to true music.

The first single, Pretty Wings was only a preview to the beautiful melodies that come forth from his sultry voice. The second single, Bad Habits brought back that sense of familiarity and timelessness that is ever present in Maxwell's music (similar to the Alicia Key's vibe). The creativity and talent of the musicians is dispelled through their instruments and fused with Maxwell's sound making this album such a breath of fresh air.

There is something so genuine about Maxwell that comes across in his performances and once again in this album. These are not songs created for airtime or radioplay nor are they meant to be sing-a-longs with catchy hooks. I would say it's reflective, meditative, feel good music that you can play over and over again. You don't get the sense that he is trying to hard or aiming for a certain look, he is just being himself. He is not forcing the reinvention of himself on his audience, you just get the sense that he has taken hiatus to live and experience a bit more of life and now he is back to share. It definitely was worth the wait.

The most exciting thing is that this album is part of a trilogy, Black Summer's Night. Black is said to be more of a dark reflective album which brings you into, Summer, the present, more hopeful, uplifting and light. Night is the one that perhaps I look forward to the most, it is more of that 'Til the cops come knocking', 'This womans work,' 'Whenever wherever, whatever' type of music that Maxwell has been known to bring us in the past. Classy love making music. Fellas if you thrown on some Maxwell I guarantee you will get farther than you would by putting on The Dream... although you might want to thrown on some 'sweat it out' a little later on.