#467: BLACKsummers’night [Maxwell, 2009]

I’m not sure how to feel about this album. Maxwell is a perfectly capable singer with a well-controlled falsetto and the instrumentation is very pretty throughout. The instrumental closer Phoenixrise is one of my favourite songs on this record! But the songs don't really connect with me; it apparently took Maxwell 8 years to write 8 unfocussed, confused lyric sheets. Maybe you would call that nuance. Indeed, Rolling Stone magazine said this album was "about love, not just sex, for grown-ups who know the difference", so maybe I'm just not grown up enough for this record. In any case, I thought Helpsomebody was a highlight, which had a nice sense of tension built by its digital harpsichord, let down a little by the cheesy horns on the chorus. But it’s clear this album is just not for me. 2/5.