How many time did you say, ‘Where is Maxwell?’ over the last 7 years? I think we all fell out our seats when he gave that surprise performance of “Simply Beautiful” during an Al Green tribute at the BET Awards last year. While I am anxiously awaiting his return to the stage at Essence Music Fest, I’m equally as excited about his 4th studio album BLACKsummer’snight due shortly after on July 7th! The first of a trilogy, Maxwell tell Billboard Magazine, the set will be “full of heart-pounding melodies and true-to-life love stories.”
“The time away gave me a better appreciation of things, so I took the time I needed to live to make this album something of substance,” he says now. “People tend to be so hell bent on remaining famous that you become desensitized to the music industry to some level. But my passion is making music and promoting and supporting great musicians.”
He began living a “pedestrian life, and I liked being regular. It was kind of a recalibration of the system as life experiences caught up with me,” he says. “Up to that point I’d been on the road and didn’t have a chance to really live. But I write about real-life experiences, so it just felt like I had to sit back and let these experiences happen and inspire me all over again.”
BLACK is “darker, bluesier side and features more despondent records. It speaks plenty to love lost.”
In 2010 Maxwell looks to release BlackSUMMER’Snight and will have more of a gospel feel, while Blacksummer’sNIGHT, with an anticipated 2011 release, is all slow jams.
His performance at the 100 Black Men conference 2 weeks ago officially launched his tour, which runs from June 20 to August 2. An arena trek in September will mark his first stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
