June 02, 2010
After seven years out of the limelight, Maxwell returned to satisfy a massive worldwide audience hungry for his own take on classic soul music. His current album and world tour prove he hasn’t missed a beat
By Lavinia Jones Wright
It's impossible not to fall for Maxwell. He's a sweetheart with style, an open book that turns out to be a fascinating read. The preternaturally talented soul singer emerged in the late '90s as one of a group of young artists trying to return urban music to the halcyon days of Motown musicianship and authenticity. His 1996 debut, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite, after a slow start, went two times platinum, and his subsequent single and album releases built to the climax of his 2001 full-length Now, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
At the turn of the last century, Maxwell had cultivated a dreamy image for himself with his signature silk suits, huge afro and sensitive falsetto voice (at its most melting on his captivating cover of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work"). But just as he had become the perfect poster boy for neo-soul, Maxwell walked away from the spotlight.
On June 24th, 2008, the audience at the BET Awards went wild for a now shorthaired Maxwell as he covered Al Green's Simply Beautiful." It was Maxwell's first live performance in seven years, and it was just the beginning of a massive return to form that has so far included a sold-out world tour and the first album in what will be a trilogy, BLACKsummers'night.
So often we say that we wish there was some merit-based formula for success in music. Talent + hard work + humility = millions of records sold. We've been burned too many times by our idols' bad behaviors, excesses and subsequent falls from grace. And that's on top of having to endure some pretty strange one hit wonders reaping music industry victories we would more wish for the striving, "all in" performers we love and no one else has heard of. Maxwell is that rare case of the formula in action.
Now that he's let slip that the seven year hiatus was not only selfimposed but intended to help him keep his perspective on fame and his music, it's official: Maxwell is the ideal pop star. He's a triple threat of gifted vocalist, motivated and inspired songwriter and all-around gracious, grateful and open-hearted human being.
What caused you to step back for so long?
Sometimes you can't unring the bell of fame. What's there is there, a virus that keeps hitting you again and again. I wanted to prove to myself that my music wasn't a hairstyle. To have a time period where there was no pressure like that, I really loved it. It didn't make me as crazy as I thought it probably would have. I'm not putting myself in their zone, but a lot of people I admire, like Bob Dylan, go away and come back. And then years later, it will mean something. It's great to see that happen. For me, at 13, 14 years after the first record being released, I like my peace and quiet. At the same time, when I've had enough of it, I want people screaming. I try to balance it. I never want to get so deep into fame and celebrity that it sacrifices the part of me that needs to relate to everybody.
You want the music that you're making to be about you and what you want to express, rather than what people expect.
Yes, and it's a great blessing to be in a situation like this, to be able to do that. I know what this means, and I want to live up to it.
How did you know the time was right to start in again?
The time was right a couple years before [BLACKsummers'night] actually came out. I was really loving my anonymity, and at the same time, I was afraid I might fail. "Do I even know what people will need in their ears anymore?" That played into the delays here and there. I did that show for Al Green and Steven Hill on MTV, and once I conquered that it was like, "ok, lets get to this." So we booked the tour.
That seems brave to decide to tour first!
I have to agree with you on that. It does take some courage. But it felt like a better avenue to present the music. To say, "Remember y'all, I know I look a little different, but I'm the guy that did that song way back when."
The tour must have gone well considering you came back and didn't just make one record, you made three.
I felt so good about the way it all worked, because it was almost like the music was proving to me what it is. I'm so happy the music keeps reaffirming its position and what it really means. But the plan [to make a trilogy] was there since 2002. I'd been working on it for a while when I announced the idea in 2006. People were surprised that someone would want to work on music and not want to immediately promote it and make money from it. It's almost like anti-American Idol syndrome.
We are used to wanting to squeeze every ounce of juice out of everything right away. But that turned out to be a pretty smart decision, to wait.
Yea. You look around at what was going on in the industry, the labels were still figuring it out. The Internet created such a game change for them that there was a lot of chaos, and it didn't feel safe to release music at the time. I'm just happy that it worked. I mean to this day, I still can't believe it. Two years ago there were so many times that people didn't even recognize me. It's so different now. The same blocks that I used to kick the can and walk up and down no problem, now it's a whole different thing. It was kind of like a gift from God, that time away.
"I DIDN'T WANT TO BE THE GUY COMING BACK FROM THE 90'S WITH THE 90'S. I'D BEEN LIVING EACH YEAR AS IT PASSED JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE; LISTENING TO A LOT OF ALTERNATIVE MUSIC, A LOT OF R&B AND HIP-HOP. I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON NOW, SO I HAVE TO ADJUST TO THE PRESENT DAY, PICK UP THE PACE A LITTLE IN THE DELIVERY IN TERMS OF LYRICS AND MELODY."
In an artistic sense, what about BLACKsummers'night do you think connected to the zeitgeist of right now so well?
It's hard to say. At 36, people at my end of the game are considered… that's it, you know? It's that "nice having you, thanks for coming by" kind of time. So for me to have the consideration of people who are not even in my age range is pretty surprising in terms of the zeitgeist of right now. How do you know these things? If you think you know them, they come to surprise you with the opposite next time, so that's why I'm trying to answer karmically and carefully. I can say one thing, I think the band and the musical act made people interested. I think musicians and musical acts are refreshing. I only realized something was happening when "Pretty Wings" was number one for the twelfth week. What's interesting about it, for me, is that it was out for a year and half, and it was so old. And I started that track in 2002! And here's something in 2009 come out that you've been hearing for the past 6 years, that only you knew about…and to have it be this hit, it was crazy to me. I always thought it had to be fresh out the box. What do I know? I've learned how much I don't know with all the greatness that's happened.
But BLACKsummers'night does have a really fresh sound compared to your old records. It looks back on old soul production: live and musical. It seems like you gained some perspective.
I didn't want to be the guy coming back from the 90's with the 90's. I'd been living each year as it passed just like everybody else; listening to a lot of alternative music, a lot of R&B and hiphop. I know what's going on now, so I have to adjust to the present day, pick up the pace a little in the delivery in terms of lyrics and melody. I was definitely concentrating on that. At first we used drum machines, because that's how you get the rough idea down, but I always knew. Then the band came together, and we started to cut a bunch of things.
Since you brought it up, you did emerge as part of the Neo Soul scene in the 90's, and it's interesting that your career took a different trajectory than those of your peers. Why do you think that is?
I don't know. It's my turn? Just like Sade, someone I really admire. I love the fact that she goes away, she lives a life, she comes back, no apologies, puts her best foot forward. Some may love it, some may not, but in the end, she is pretty rounded as a human being. I don't think the world views her as desperate for their attention.
You seem resistant to be grouped into Neo Soul.
When new things happen there's always got to be a catch phrase for it. It's got to be boxed for mass consumption. When I was making the first record there was no such word as neo-soul. It was just something that I was doing because people my age were into a certain time in [soul] music, and we were going to bring that in no matter what. I don't look at [the way the media grouped neo soul artists into a scene] with disparagement. I'm pretty neutral about it. It brought an audience. It's just that, who knows what will happen down the road, what kind of music I will make? I'm never certain until that moment.
MAXWELL - PHOTO BY ERIC JOHNSON
Back to the record, where did the title come from?
It's three discs: Black, Summers' and Night. Each word exemplifies the record. When you look Black, it's pretty despondent, a lot of heartbreak, a lot of not being able to control yourself and your feelings. A certain amount of helplessness. Summers'…I'm not doing a 180, but I'm lightening it up and brightening it up.
In production? Or song subject matter?
Song subject matter. Production may change here and there, but not much. These are soul records that we are putting out. I'm sort of playing it, hopefully, in various ways, rom soul to gospel to blues, even country has a certain edge to it that I like. You'll know what you're getting, but hopefully you'll get a sense of the change, and where I'm going. I have a lot to be happy about. It's almost perfect that this is the album that's coming out.
And then Night. What will it be like?
Purely bedroom; sexy, sensual, all the love songs. That's why Summers' has the up vibe, I'm saving the ballads for that third installment. It feels really like a good solid idea that I can really work these themes in. I always like that kind of a structure. I want it to mean something. It can't just be a record just to be a record.
How autobiographical are these songs? They feel incredibly personal.
They are. I met an amazing girl. At the beginning of the writing, I hadn't met the girl or had the experience that all these songs were supposed to be about. I had the music, and I had some of the words, but no real emotion. Once I went through that experience, I knew exactly what I needed to say. Especially the loss of that relationship, because that hurt more than I thought it would. You may part, you may say "I love you," but this isn't working. And you walk away, and you're happy that you did, but you may be surprised at how much you miss somebody. And in that period of missing I really found that heart behind what I was going to do.
"Pretty Wings," the single, is about her?
"Bad Habits" as well. "Playing Possum." "Fist Full of Tears" teeters on that relationship, but it's also about trying to give somebody a sense of hope and the beauty you see in them.
How important is it to put so much personal feeling into your songs in order to have it connect with other people?
I think it's very important. People can tell if it's real or not. I couldn't concoct some story or some experience, because people can tell.
You mentioned "Playing Possum." That song stuck out to me. It's so bare, production-wise and emotionally. It seems like a brave move.
I was going for that. I wanted to have something that doesn't feel like a glossy, polished production record, and it felt right for the song not to be so pristine. I'm happy that we ended up putting that in there, because it worked for the whole balance of the record. I wanted that sort of contrast. I think every album should have something a little acoustic in there.
It makes you feel closer to the artist.
I think so, too.
You said that the music came first this time, before the lyrics. Is that usually the case?
Sometimes not, sometimes both at the same time. Sometimes first it's a title or a phrase, or someone will say something to me, or I'll watch a movie…but I have to wait to go through what I have to speak about. That's what it's about, being patient enough to wait. I don't have writers sending me things, so it's really from the bottom up.
You're in a pretty interesting phase in the process with this record right now, because it's been almost a year since it came out. You've probably had a lot of time to look at the results. It's a huge debut and it's getting great reviews. How much of this is shocking to you and how much is what you expected?
(Laughs) I can't say that I expect anything in life, but I definitely accept what comes. I'm blown away that's it's a year later and we have a new single and there's a fourth leg to the tour with these new songs. I'm happy that people didn't forget. I keep saying that, I'm like a broken record. But no one owes me anything. I take it with great pride.
Looking at this in perspective, this isn't your first No. 1 debut. You've had one before. So it's not unbelievable to think that you'd be able to make another huge record. But at the same time there had to be a little fear that no one was going to care. Or that fans would be angry at you for going away for so long.
It could have gone in so many directions, and believe you me, I definitely pondered all the possibilities. But it's just incredible, music is a longliving, long-lasting entity. It's beyond me. It's the music, primarily, that people are engaged with and are patient with. If I didn't have the music I don't think I would get much of a path, you know what I mean?
I guess that answers my next question, why you think everything turned out okay?
Answering that would probably make me come off a little too confident. I'm not so confident with what I do all the time. In fact, I'm not really confident at all, I'm always just trying to do something that's true to the story that I'm trying to tell or the experience that I've gone through. And then I cross my fingers and I hope that it works out.
Do you think you'll be tired of the hustle again after all three of these records come out?
I may do something else, be more of a producer, writer. I'm not sure. I may want to take a break after all three because they are coming out so close to each other, a year to a year-and-a-half apart. That's a lot of music for the time that I was away. Hopefully making up for lost time. Fingers crossed.
If you have shown us anything, it's that the doors never close.
That's definitely what I've seen from this experience.
