Imagine spending a rainy day or maybe just a quiet evening cherishing love. The best way to liven up this experience would be to set the mood to music with the first disc in Maxwell’s Black Summers' Night trilogy as the musical backdrop. There is no need to search for an ideal love in this atmosphere or pretend that expressing heart filled emotions is not hard work. Maxwell informs listeners that feelings of love are not within a person’s control so it’s far better to relent and let go of the fear of loving without a limit.
Disc Accomplishes Being Worth the Wait
The last time Maxwell graced fans with new material was the 2001 release of the disc “Now.” The DVD promotion that accompanies the new disc sheds some insight on the birth of this highly anticipated albums release. Maxwell states, “You live first and create after for it becomes an organic experience of which people can understand exactly what you were feeling within each word even if the full story behind the music is not known.”
Maxwell has grown as an artist and despite abandoning his signature curly afro it is apparent that this singer is still in tune with delivering authenticity to fans. The only thing slightly disappointing is that the disc has only nine tracks but then again it makes the listener want to hear more and definitely ready to purchase the complete trilogy.
The Strength of Maxwell’s Ballads
Maxwell is a soulful balladeer who knows just how to spark curiosity and pull from heart filled emotions. “Bad Habit” once again brings to life Maxwell’s famous falsetto highlighting the way a lady moves and speaks without a sound leaving a suitor addicted to the highest course of love.
“Pretty Wings” is pure and innocent in expressing the newness of love and the sudden reality of it coming to a crashing end in the opening lines Maxwell belts out, “Time will bring the real end of our trial, One day they'll be no remnants.” “Fist Full of Tears” explores opening up to the possibility of love despite painful experiences of the past. “Stop the World” is about experiencing a love that makes the world seem like it stops with no worries or battles to fret about. “Playing Possum” is about wanting a love to come back to life after it has died.
Lend a Helping Hand
“Help Somebody” is about abandoning selfishness to show someone the path to making dreams a reality and a person extending their knowledge and wisdom to help others.
Up-tempo Love Inside and Out
Maxwell takes half of the disc for an up-tempo spin still within the confines of love. “Cold” is a suggestive word play that describes the undeniable beauty of a lady love and an admirer that is unafraid to let the world know. The lady turns out to be the kind of woman who stands out in crowds and leaves a suitor wanting more. “Love You” is simply a call from a man who loves a woman and the heart filled ways it can be expressed. "Phoenix Rising" is an instrumental dance groove reminiscent of “Sumthin Sumthin” in tempo. It is a beautiful ending to the first disc in the Black Summers' Night trilogy.
Overall, Maxwell delivers a solid first disc in the Black Summers' Night Trilogy that fans will not regret listening to.
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