"BLACKsummers’night" offers that rarest of balances: It’s both embraceable and unbound. Maxwell has structured his songs like mystery stories. Each unfolds slowly and carefully. You can’t get a track’s full story unless you stay to the end.

The opening number, "Bad Habits," begins as a sensual soul ballad only to find its rhythm gathering speed and its funky bass intensifying. Later, Latin bongos rumble in, and further on, a horn section wafts in to deliver a whiff of cool jazz. In every track, instruments swell and fall like waves. One takes the lead in a given moment, holds back the next, only to return with an entirely new melody. Also, the instruments enter at varying velocities, tricking up the overall rhythm.

In some older recordings, Maxwell paid so much attention to the interplay of his instruments, he lost his voice in the mix. Here, that never happens. Rarely has his falsetto sounded creamier. Never have his deep tones carried more masculine authority. Better, Maxwell navigates the distance between those poles with the agility of an aerialist.

As a performance, it’s a wonder to behold, especially given the complex music the star needs to make seem simple. There’s just one piece of news that could top all that: Maxwell has already recorded two sequel CDs, planned for release in as many years. We have a lot to look forward to.

LISTEN HERE:

MAXWELL - 'STOP THE WORLD'

MAXWELL - 'COLD'

MAXWELL - 'PLAYING POSSUM'

Photo Credit: Eric Johnson