Maybe we don’t get as much Maxwell as we’d like to get; but when we do get it, it’s damn good. The Brooklyn soul man is currently basking in the glow of the 20th anniversary of his influential debut Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite. He is also finally delivering blackSUMMERSnight. It’s his first album in 7 years, and the second in his “Black Summer’s Night” trilogy. The album won’t be released until July, but Max is breaking us off with a preview via “Lake By The Ocean”. Not to be confused with the inferior “Cake By The Ocean” (by the Jonas brother who’s not Nick), this is primo seductive Maxwell. The singer appears to be taking his career cues from Sade (a band that was very instrumental-pun intended-in the recording of Maxwell’s first couple of records) and dropping albums at a leisurely pace, yet still maintaining a high level of sonic consistency and quality.
Let’s move from Brooklyn to Queens and catch up with Paul Simon. The legendary singer/songwriter should be resting on his laurels. After all, he’s 50 years into a career that’s seen him sell tons of records, explore a variety of musical styles, and has established himself as one, if not the, greatest American lyricist of the rock era. In my opinion, his only true comp is Stevie.
2011’s So Beautiful Or So What was a fantastic record-certainly better than one would have any reason to expect from an artist clearly in the twilight of his career. However, Paul isn’t ready to ride off into the sunset just yet. Stranger To Stranger, a brand new studio record, pops into stores June 3rd, and it’s being preceded by the wry, unexpectedly “Wristband”, which you can listen to below.
2016 has already been a solid year for music, and this summer, things are promising to get even better!