Blacksummers' Night Not So Hot

Immediately after the first five seconds of the first cut, Bad Habits you are sure that you're listening to Maxwell. The soulful crooner returns from an eight year hiatus and surprisingly not much has changed. This is not to say that Maxwell's previous albums needed improvement. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite is of course a classic with memorable tracks such as Sumthin' Sumthin' and Whenever Wherever Whatever. But Where there are memorable tracks there are forgetful ones and BlackSummer's Night seems to be composed almost completely of such tracks. With lines such as "you come out of nowhere/dissappear and reappear/Houdini would be proud" it seems that Maxwell, although keeping his classic sound, has forgotten the depth. Not that there aren't any gems on the album. The first single Pretty Wings as well as Playing Possum hint at Maxwell's former lyrical perfection but on the whole the album leaves you almost wishing he'd waited another year. Now I am under the impression that this album is the first part of a three part series that Maxwell is releasing. I can only hope that this was the only a taste of what is to come. But as it stands by itself I would just wait for the second release and burn a friends copy of the former just so you can have the whole collection.