Review: BLACKsummer'snight --Maxwell
The sun has finally settled. The hot steam outside has emerged into a smooth cool breeze and the fast pace of the day has finally come to a slow and steady jog. It is at this moment I find the time to slip into my car and begin the hour long journey home, my ears anticipating this weeks latest delivery: the rebirth of Maxwell, in his 4th studio album BLACKsummer’s night.
The black disc emerges and not to long after, my drums are filled with real ones: the sound of steady heart beats accompanied by Maxwell’s soft and sensual voice. With “Bad Habits” the opening track of the album, Maxwell explains his addiction to a love that encompasses and controls him in every way but simultaneously drowns him and leaves him lost. The track delivers an intensity from his soul-fused genre that by far hasn’t been heard all summer.
By “Cold” the second track on the disc, I hear an explosion of drums, guitars, and trumpets all adding to the soft but intense feeling that Maxwell begins to offer in this collection . He utilizes every sound imaginable, turning natural sounds into music: heart beats, chimes, organs, horns, and strings; creating a sound that is alluring and distinct.
On my way to “Stop the World” the fifth track on the disc, Maxwell continues to fuse the acoustic sounds of guitars and the funk aspect of blues with his soft serenading voice. Pleading to stop the world in the moment when he resides with his love, leaving nothing to matter -- not even the wretched and chaotic world outside their love struck doors.
When I reach “Love You,” I’m convinced. For the non-believers he has made them believers, for the liars --honest and whole. “If you take this rib don’t let it go/ baby don’t leave or ever go, no,” are the last words to make it out of the 3 minutes and 35 second track, but by far stick the longest. You not only feel the warmth and steady energy of his voice but the passion that is nonetheless exerted through each and every instrument used.
By the end of my journey, Maxwell leaves me with the sounds of his band on “Phoenix Rising.” Using every sound imaginable at it’s finest element.
Maxwell left not to come back snapping, with loads of collaborations, or more thankfully with an impulsive computerized voice. Maxwell comes back with an authenticity that embellishes every song, every ear and every emotion. The tracks are raw and honest. Intense and engulfing. BLACKsummer’snight is real music.
Love your ears with: “Love You”
The sun has finally settled. The hot steam outside has emerged into a smooth cool breeze and the fast pace of the day has finally come to a slow and steady jog. It is at this moment I find the time to slip into my car and begin the hour long journey home, my ears anticipating this weeks latest delivery: the rebirth of Maxwell, in his 4th studio album BLACKsummer’s night.
The black disc emerges and not to long after, my drums are filled with real ones: the sound of steady heart beats accompanied by Maxwell’s soft and sensual voice. With “Bad Habits” the opening track of the album, Maxwell explains his addiction to a love that encompasses and controls him in every way but simultaneously drowns him and leaves him lost. The track delivers an intensity from his soul-fused genre that by far hasn’t been heard all summer.
By “Cold” the second track on the disc, I hear an explosion of drums, guitars, and trumpets all adding to the soft but intense feeling that Maxwell begins to offer in this collection . He utilizes every sound imaginable, turning natural sounds into music: heart beats, chimes, organs, horns, and strings; creating a sound that is alluring and distinct.
On my way to “Stop the World” the fifth track on the disc, Maxwell continues to fuse the acoustic sounds of guitars and the funk aspect of blues with his soft serenading voice. Pleading to stop the world in the moment when he resides with his love, leaving nothing to matter -- not even the wretched and chaotic world outside their love struck doors.
When I reach “Love You,” I’m convinced. For the non-believers he has made them believers, for the liars --honest and whole. “If you take this rib don’t let it go/ baby don’t leave or ever go, no,” are the last words to make it out of the 3 minutes and 35 second track, but by far stick the longest. You not only feel the warmth and steady energy of his voice but the passion that is nonetheless exerted through each and every instrument used.
By the end of my journey, Maxwell leaves me with the sounds of his band on “Phoenix Rising.” Using every sound imaginable at it’s finest element.
Maxwell left not to come back snapping, with loads of collaborations, or more thankfully with an impulsive computerized voice. Maxwell comes back with an authenticity that embellishes every song, every ear and every emotion. The tracks are raw and honest. Intense and engulfing. BLACKsummer’snight is real music.
Love your ears with: “Love You”
