NEW YORK--Clearly, a guy who takes eight years between albums is concerned less about speed than endurance. On his first full-length studio outing since 2001’s “Now,” Maxwell reaffirms the penchant for smooth, sultry R&B that made him a seminal neo-soul star, but the songs on “‘night”--the first installment in a trilogy, according to Maxwell, who plans subsequent releases in 2010 and 2011--don’t just simmer and shimmer.
Some grow markedly hotter and rougher, such as the single, “Pretty Wings,” which evolves from a delicate acoustic ballad into a horns-infused entreaty, with Maxwell sliding from silky, falsetto-laced cooing to hoarsely impassioned belting like Prince at his most piqued.
Others develop more subtly and, in the case of the muscular but haunted “Help Somebody” and the chiming “Fistful of Tears,” express social and spiritual yearning as much as carnal desire. But regardless of what’s on his mind or in his heart, Maxwell’s fluid, forthright singing leaves no doubt of his conviction.
Let other artists go and seek out fast thrills. Maxwell lusts for loftier and longer-lasting fulfillment.
