On The Download: Maxwell's 'BLACKsummers'night'

On The Download - Maxwell Eric JohnsonAccess Hollywood

By Jeremy Blacklow

BURBANK, Calif. -- After an eight-year absence, soul R&B singer Maxwell is back on the scene with what very well could prove to be his magnum opus, the first of a 3-disc set, entitled "BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT."

This first disc is entitled "BLACK"... "SUMMERS'" and "NIGHT" are due later this year. According to the press notes, "BLACK is a much darker but soulful compilation, SUMMERS' leans more toward the gospel side and NIGHT is more a cool collection of slow jams."

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But man was the long absence ever worth the wait.

Thirteen years since he debuted on the scene with "Urban Hang Suite" Maxwell is still giving us music to groove out to. This is the sexy soul album of summer - listening to it in my office, I almost felt myself taken back to sitting on a stoop in New York City on a hot mid-summer night, listening to the sounds and heat of the city take over my mind, body and heart.

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Lead single, "Pretty Wings" is a classic ready-for-radio jam, meditating on the singer songwriter's last long-term relationship. The soft horns alone on this track are comparable to a soft summer breeze coasting over two bodies that have just finished making love in the middle of a summer afternoon.

"Stop The World" doesn't even speak in metaphors - this song is about sex - pure and simple. The power of sex to quite literally... stop the world.

One of the greatest feelings that come from this disc is that it's not too overproduced. Its simplicity plays like a live concert coming from your stereo - it's raw, accessible, and so listenable.

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If anyone's inherited the mantle of Marvin Gaye, it appears to be Maxwell.

I can't recommend this CD highly enough.... Download it ... now. I assure that you'll have no regrets.

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