Whatever happened to... Maxwell?

Nah, that's blackSUMMERS'night.

ha whoops

There's a video of him on his Facebook page of him listening to the new single and it's the most awkward thing.

this song is great

god i'm so excited

yeah pumped 4 this

yessss

wait is the new single out bc i'm not going to have my experience of it be a facebook video of him listening to it

yeah its out

its on spotify

this sounds effortless

oh my god this is gorgeous

between maxwell, tweet and king it's shaping up to be a great year for old people soul vibes

man the finale. I am floored.

yesss

s/o to the hi hat lick at :50

always so understated but so perfect

https://youtu.be/9nJkGH80suo

Man, this has been a long time coming!

First of all, I'm really happy that this thing is actually happening. Maxwell has meant so much to me throughout my adult life. In fact, it's not much of a stretch to say that his music is part of what shaped me into an adult to begin with.

Onto the song. . . It's just master craftsmanship. Listening to his new music has always given me the impression of watching a sculptor at work. You're not really sure where all the movements and little, seemingly insignificant, iterations will fit into the larger whole until the piece is finished. I love that. It's so layered and thoughtful, without sounding overcooked. Just top gear, all the way.

Definitely my most anticipated release of the year.

POO: Maxwell vs DNCE

CHRIST, THIS IS GORGEOUS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2a85v0yxoY

yes

mmmmm that coda

Visuals for lake by the ocean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsSu0bRZEHM

WE WILL CLIMAX WITH REASON

[fans self] damn that is game

the arrangements on these songs are wild

there's so much detail yet it's so coherently woven into a composed surface that it sort of feels like watching sand shift

also psyched for this record bc i need new records with amazing drumming in my life rn

distracted by the clearly-not-Chris-Dave old dude on drums in the video, so here's some Chris Dave: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFiUAcbPiGf/

chris dave is so good

i thought i knew what he was doing in that video and it turns out: i didn't

The new song is good; reminiscent of 'Stop the World' from BLACKsummers'night — think I prefer 'Lake by the Ocean' though.

trying to determine what the timpani and choral vocals remind me of. rotary connection? they give it such a haunted feeling

Yeah, definitely a semi-spooky Rotary Connection "baroque soul" vibe to this new tune.

http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/9901-maxwell-hostage-of-love/

this interview makes me very excited to hear the album

possibly more excited than the album will make me

good album cover though

though tbh, the first single sounds very much like post-00 maxwell. hes really become kind of a sade artist. he basically does one thing, does it well, but doesnt really shift much anymore, not in the way he did from UHS to embrya. i think his melodies used to be stronger too, which might just be as a result of not working with stuart matthewman anymore.

imo this album is way different texturally from any of his other work. melodically it is recognizably maxwell ofc

also he totally still works with matthewman

I prefer post-00 Maxwell so I am excited

matthewmann worked on the new one? he wasnt on the last one.

"melodically it is recognizably maxwell ofc"

i think his melodies changed quite a bit after now. what ive heard of the new one - just whats on YT - sounds very much in line with the last album.

I think now and BLACKsummer'snight share a lot more than now does with embrya. his compositions have shifted yeah but I think they're generally more open and uh dimensional? since embrya, not to take away from how awesome and immersive that album is. i think the more useful songwriting relationship to observe re: maxwell is how his songs with hod david have evolved

I think the Matthewmann stuff has a much looser, jammy feel. The songs have room for extra flourishes, solos, etcetera.

In contrast, the Hod David stuff feels much more (to use a word that may have negative connotations) inflexible. There are still strings and horn charts, but everything has its specific part to play and that's it.

Both sounds have their pros and cons.

Am I the only person who much prefers Now to Embrya? I feel like that record doesn't get much respect even though it is incredible

Embrya is his worst.

never said it was a GOOD move from UHS to embrya

Ha, I didn't know other people struggled with Embrya, too. It's always spoken of so reverentially

"Cococure" is the only thing that sticks imo

drowndeep is one of his best songs imo

it ends up being R&B muzak after the half way mark or so IIRC but cmon, that opening stretch is terrific!

reminds me of that bit in prince's movie star - 'environmental records... supposed to make you horny but just makes me wanna go to the bathroom'