Whatever happened to... Maxwell?

I can empathize my Spotify went offline for a minute earlier and the wait between Now and BLACKsummersnight was excruciating.

haha

So long as you avoid his second album and last single you're in for a delight: what a catalog.

avoid Embrya?? whaaaaat

It's a dense bore, "Cococure" excepted. I get it stuck in my head once a week.

i dont get dense from embrya at all. the songs have a ton of room to breath. Cococure through Know These Things is an incredibly strong stretch of canon maxwell.

Embrya is pretty much the antithesis of what dense could apply to in pop music.

Yeah, sorry -- to me his melodic sense isn't as well-developed, leading to clotted arrangements. NOW is when things click into place.

"drowndeep" is one of his best songs imo

Yeah, sorry -- to me his melodic sense isn't as well-developed, leading to clotted arrangements. NOW is when things click into place.

I hear you. That approach works on UHS imo.

UHS was far more balladic and conventional than ambient and arcane though.

Embrya was in some ways a complete departure from what came before which accounts for its poor reception. It was reaching for something "different" but wasn't authoritative enough in its intent to justify its pretences.

In spite of that I still think the music is undeniable.

agreed well-said

Today, Maxwell announces his "50 Intimate Nights Live" tour, a 50-date trek to many of North America's top theatres, including New York's Beacon Theatre, LA's Microsoft Theater, and Chicago's Chicago Theatre. Following on the heels of performances at North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam and Afropunk Paris, the multi-GRAMMY-winning soul singer will debut new material during these intimate shows alongside his many critically acclaimed hits.

...

A 20th anniversary reissue of Maxwell's 1998 album 'Embrya' will also be released this fall. More details to come.

A 20th anniversary reissue of Maxwell's 1998 album 'Embrya' will also be released this fall. More details to come.

― maura, Monday, July 23, 2018 7:47 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hell yeah

tsrobodo relentlessly otm itt

from my inbox:

Sony Music's Certified Classics, Legacy Recording's division for the celebration of Sony Music's Hip Hop and R&B catalogue, will release Maxwell's Embrya on September 28th. The release will include a 2-LP white vinyl package and a new 12-page booklet featuring unseen photos from the original Embrya photoshoot shot by Mario Sorrenti. The audio has been newly re-mastered by Maxwell and Stuart Matthewman, who has worked with Maxwell for over 20 years and who mixed and co-produced the album in 1998. Additionally, it has been resequenced, moving the original opening track to the end.

Embrya, which was originally released in 1998, reached #2 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #3 on the Billboard 200 and went Certified platinum. It also garnered Maxwell a GRAMMY Award nomination for best R&B album. The album remains an integral chapter in Maxwell's career canon. He switched up from the jazzier leanings of Urban Hang Suite to stronger basslines, lush strings, electronic beats and more pulsating beats and grooves versus melodies--with Hawaiian guitar riffs and Latin accents thrown in for good measure. And whereas the retro-souled Suite's concept revolved around romance, Embrya takes the musical discussion to the next level: the gestation of love and spirituality.

It was also recently announced that Maxwell will perform the National Anthem at the Opening Night Ceremony of 2018 US Open. The performance will take place at Arthur Ashe Stadium prior to the evening session on Monday, August 27th. This announcement follows the news that GRAMMY-Award winning music sensation Kelly Clarkson will headline the Opening Night Ceremony.

Additionally, Maxwell recently announced his upcoming "50 Intimate Nights Live" North American tour which will kick off on September 27th in, Richmond, VA.

also his new press photo is great (linked because it's giant)

hooray he announced a date in boston

I'm all for a deluxe and reappraised version of Embrya, but I hope that they won't drop the ball and leave all the great related material from the time still in limbo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN7gMZwhAeI

from NIGHT, which is finally coming out... in 2019.

OH SHIT

how does he even write songs like this

that's much sooner than expected!

the "You've insisted, you've insisted" part -- holy shit

Maxwell has filmed a music video for his newest release, “Shame.” Opening with a view of the New York City skyline and models clad in sheer dark scarves, obscuring their faces from view, the video is a vibrant look into black beauty. A low hum sets the stage for this ground-breaking video that dives deep into historical context, popular culture and realities of love; an all star cast led by super model Maria Borgess, featuring Jeneil Williams, Achok Majak, Riley Montana, Sira Kant and Adonis Bosso as regal depictions of humans shedding their shame.

Watch video here: http://smarturl.it/maxwellshame/Youtube

“We wanted to celebrate beauty. Specifically the beauty of Black women. Black women - Black people - don’t see themselves heralded as a standard of beauty nearly enough in the media, especially in entertainment, high fashion and art. It’s getting better, but we still have so far to go," Maxwell explains. "People of color have carried shame about our features, our hair, our bodies, our skin tone. As I said previously, this song is about removing the cloak of shame and opening up to love... including self-love and love of your culture. So we decided to pay homage to another beautiful video, George Michael’s iconic “Freedom” - but make it Black. The end result is gorgeous, powerful and stunning. This video is a love letter to my women of color. Feel no shame in your skin - you are beyond beautiful."

Going to see him tonight!

ive been trying to decide whether to go see him on this tour, please report back!

The DC area gig near me was so expensive. There was also a cheaper Baltimore one, but alas on a night I couldn’t make. Oh well. Maybe will just have to splurge next time

aaahhhh i'm so jealous, alfred!

So the show was terrific. He was in fine voice, casual and masterly in his between-song patter. I'm sorry that apparently Marsha Ambrosius was apparently too sick to play (talking to people in the elevator, I was impressed that many concertgoers were there as much for her, deservedly).

alright cool im leaning towards going

Soul star Maxwell presents "A Night At The Symphony," his first-ever symphonic shows this fall, joined by world class orchestras augmented with veterans of his longtime band. Maxwell, who’s known for his meticulous attention to detail in his music, is re-arranging his songs in collaboration with the 96 member National Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra respectively, for a three-night residency at Washington D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts September 18, 19 and 20, and a one-night show at the Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park in Atlanta on September 27th.

let's fucking goooooo

THE FIRST FROM THE FINAL #MXWLNIGHT

00 : 12 hours : 00:0FF pic.twitter.com/dumJe89rcv

— MAXWELL (@_MAXWELL_) November 15, 2021

is the album coming too or is he going to disappear for another 3 years after releasing a single again

O_O

!!???!??!!?

if this means he's dropping it at 3am, i'm staying the fuck up for that.

i guess it's not actually 3am but sometime between now and tomorrow this time? i don't know how twitter works at all.

excited.

Let's just hope that blacksummersNIGHT becomes the consensus AOTY in 2023

― pumped up kicks and levels on repeat all night (2011nostalgia), Friday, December 9, 2016 10:23 PM (four years ago) bookmarkflaglink

we're almost there guys!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO-quWd4IP0

an absolute dream

i know he said (about a fucking decade ago) that the third one would be all slow jams, but i didn't think he'd actually go through with it! this is a damn fine tune and a promise of glorious things to come.

"creamy chocolate work of art" indeed. \m/

Going back to some of the more recent remixes that I missed. This one caught me off guard. Ooh, this is nice:

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

"Shame (S508 Cassady Remix)" (2019)

Touring with Jazmin Sullivan

Serenade tour