Maxwell Blacksummers' Night CD

Deluxe two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD edition includes a bonus DVD. 2009 studio album from the ground breaking modern Soul artist, his first full-length release since 2001. BLACKsummers' Night is the sensuous opening installment of the artist's monumental BLACKSUMMERS' NIGHT trilogy. The trilogy's subsequent chapters, blackSUMMERS' night and blacksummers' NIGHT, are slated for release in 2010 and 2011 respectively. This 2009 album reunites Maxwell with long-time collaborator Hod David, who serves as co-producer and co-writer of the album. Striving for an emotional authenticity and real world sound for the album, Maxwell and Hod recorded the entire album live in the studio with an A-list ensemble of elegantly sympathetic musicians.

Personnel: Hod David (various instruments, guitar); Musze (various instruments); Kenneth Whalum III (saxophone); Keyon Harrold (trumpet); Saunders Sermons (trombone); Shedrick Mitchell (organ); Federico Pena (keyboards); Derrick Hodge (bass instrument); Chris Dave (drums).
It's been eight long years between Maxwell's third and fourth studio albums. BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT is the first release of a trilogy, with BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT(rooted in gospel, with a twist, apparently) and BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT(promised as a disc of slow jams) to follow. Just as Maxwell arrived in 1996, offering an alternative to the exaggerated masculinity that was dominating contemporary R&B, he returns when the airwaves are still stuffed with raging hormones. He has made no concessions to them however--the highly romantic BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT is all devotion, regret, and heartache. Maxwell's backing musicians morph with every shift in emotion through arrangements that are unfailingly exquisite and sensitively nuanced, even when briskly played. And if the singer got into any adventures while he was away, he does not detail them during these 38 unified minutes. He did go through a serious, failed relationship however, just as "Pretty Wings," the album's floating pre-album single, suggests. Like the real-life flip side to Al Green's "Simply Beautiful"--which Maxwell performed at the 2008 BET Awards, signaling his return--it's catharsis through bittersweet elegance, as is the album as a whole.
Maxwell spent part of the eight years between his third and fourth studio albums walking the Earth, attempting to experience a life resembling that of a human. One of neo-soul's most visible faces, along with Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo, he had been on the music industry's hamster wheel for most of his twenties and needed some tangible inspiration. At some point he got down to scheming and quite a lot of recording; BLACKsummers'night is the first release of a trilogy, with BlackSUMMERS'night (rooted in gospel, with a twist, apparently) and Blacksummers'NIGHT (promised as a disc of slow jams) to follow. Just as he arrived in 1996, offering an alternate option to the exaggerated masculinity that was dominating contemporary R&B, he returns as the airwaves are stuffed with raging hormones expressed through Auto-Tune. He has made no concessions to them. BLACKsummers'night is all devotion, regret, and heartache, written with Now collaborator Hod David and played by a session band, including a horn section, that sounds closer to a touring band that has been supporting the singer for years. The musicians morph with every shift in emotion through arrangements that are unfailingly exquisite and sensitively nuanced, even when they are briskly played. If the singer got into adventures while he was away, he does not detail them during these 38 unified minutes, but he did go through a serious, failed relationship, just as "Pretty Wings," the album's floating pre-album single, suggested. Like the real-life flip side to Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" -- the song Maxwell performed at the 2008 BET Awards, signaling his return -- it's catharsis through bittersweet elegance, equal in its enamored resentment ("You toyed with my affliction/Had to fill out my prescriRolling Stone (p.78) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[B]allads like the mesmeric 'Pretty Wings' prove he's an auteur in his own right, with surprising digressions and crescendos that mirror the songs' conflicted emotions."
Spin (p.90) - "Maxwell is coming back with a flourish....[The album is] grittier and less New Age-y than his previous work..."
Billboard (p.28) - "Full of heart-pounding melodies and true-to-life love stories....BLACKSUMMER'SNIGHT is a testament that Maxwell hasn't lost a beat."
XXL (Magazine) (p.117) - "[T]he irrefutable allure of `Bad Habits' and the honeyed harmonies of `Love You' are Maxwell's reminder that some subjects remain timeless."
Pitchfork (Website) - "Heartbreak is a constant in popular music....[This] is a deeply moving and evocative record that finds the singer expounding on this universal feeling like few can."