“(It will also include) lots of songs from the 90s that never got on the albums.”
Maxwell is gearing up to release new music, however, the upcoming sounds may contain moments from his past.
During an interview with Gary Gerard Hamilton at the Associated Press, the R&B icon shared details on what’s to come. Up first, the Brooklyn native plans to release blacksummers’NIGHT.
“I just have to finish the (blacksummers’night) trilogy part, and then we’re going to move into some stuff that happened before I was even 17,” explained the 50-year-old crooner. “(It will also include) lots of songs from the 90s that never got on the albums…it’s a different time — I’m so grateful.”
The other albums in the trilogy are BLACKsummers’night (2009) and BlackSUMMERS’night (2016).
He continued to elaborate, “The next one (with early songs) is stuff that I used to do when I was 16, 15, when I had pretty much barely any equipment. And it’s interesting to see your first steps — well, I wouldn’t say first steps. I would say crawling.”
Back to blacksummers’NIGHTwhich he teased to VIBE back in 2021. The award-winning musician promises fans an experience.
“It’s (NIGHT’s) a journey into true intimacy. It’s a journey into vulnerability, and it just ties up the Trilogy in a way that represents eroticism in a very mature way. Because I see a lot of eroticism happening, but I don’t necessarily feel like those people make me feel like they’re sexy — they make me feel like they’re sex objects,” he explained.
“If you want to write lyrics that are very graphic…do what you want to do. I don’t do that — I believe in romance.”
The “Pretty Wings” performer last released an album in 2016 with the second installation of the trilogy, BlackSUMMERS’night. In February, Maxwell plans to celebrate his acclaimed 1996 debut Urban Hang Suite with a romantic cruise to the Bahamas with a talent list including Ledisi, Robert Glasper, Sabrina Claudio, Musiq Soulchild, Leela James, Gallant, and more.
“What do you do when the music doesn’t last? And your kids are 15 or 30, and you’ve got to go on stage and sing lyrics that really make absolutely no sense to who you are in the given moment?” shared Maxwell with AP.
“As artists mature, they forget that the choices that they make creatively have to withstand time because time is gangster. And what you look like 20 years ago is not what you’re going to look like (in the present) — I don’t care how much plastic surgery you get, we’re all getting old.”
