Bougie Music Review: Maxwell

Maxwell is back. BLACKsummers'night marks his return after nine years away from the music business. My Maxwell love has waxed and waned over the years. I loved "Sumthin' Sumthin'" - the mellosmoothe remix more than I love a Starbuck's White Mocha (that's serious). But then my girl "C" and I went to see old boy in Oakland... FAIL. Oakland is a place where you bring your "A" game or get booed. As "C" and I tipped out, old boy was getting booed. He came out (late) sat down on a stool, was obviously chemically altered and proceeded to sing the first line of his song before holding the mic out for the audience to sing. And he did that for the first three songs before wearing himself out so that he needed to cut to intermission early. May I repeat... FAIL.

With the lingering memory of this "concert" in my mind, I went ahead and downloaded the album based on hearing a chorus or two of Prett Wings. BLACKsummers'night really has a very Neo-Soul laidback vibe which I love. The whole sound is very smooth, like a late night curled up with someone special sipping on ice cold Spanish Port. The only real problem that I have with this album is that it's short with nine tracks, just under 38 minutes total.

Some of the songs on BLACKsummers' night are a little hit or miss but mostly on the side of the better. "Bad Habits" really is a nice starter for the album, followed by the lead single "Cold" with a little upbeat. "Prettywings" and "Stoptheworld" both slow things down.

For your listening/viewing joy - here is Maxwell's grown-n-sexy anthem for cheatin'-ass men kinda-sorta apologizing... a topic I know a little too much about. (The video is a little bit Showtime after Dark so you may not want to click this up at work). I give it 3 purple pumps out of 4. What do you think?