MAXWELL IN HUB, EDGE
Maxwell blends past, present in innovative ways
Maxwell began work on his debut, double-platinum “Urban Hang Suite” as a teenager. The 1996 album made him a sensation by his early 20s, the heir-apparent to Marvin Gaye, Prince and George Michael. Then his sophomore album, 1998’s “Embrya,” confused a lot of people. Too many critics have referred to “Embrya” as a flop — a ridiculous label seeing as the LP hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than a million copies in the United States. But “Embrya” certainly wasn’t “Urban Hang Suite Part II”: It stretched soul music like taffy, more concerned with dreamy, six-minute grooves than easy pop hooks. “We did a very experimental record that some people liked and some people didn’t,” Maxwell said ahead of his Wednesday performance at the Orpheum. “But I was happy with those mixed reviews because I didn’t want my second album to be a formula-type record that everyone got. I feel like ‘Embrya’ gave me this latitude to go anywhere I wanted after I released it. “And kudos to Columbia (Records) for riding that out with me and respecting me as an artist,” he added with a little laugh. The shift between “Urban Hang Suite” and “Embrya” set the tone for Maxwell’s career. While radio hits and No. 1 records would come, he refused to chase them — more inclined to collaborate with Sade’s Stuart Matthewman and longtime pal Hod David than with vogue song doctors too many pop artists keep on retainer. “My goal was not just to have songs, but a career, a body of work and not just hits,” he said. “I know the formulas, but I don’t want to use them. My audience isn’t kids anymore. They are smart people. At 45 years old, I can’t try to saturate my audience with something that is just trendy sounding.” Maxwell’s latest single, “Shame,” is a testament to that approach. The song features him channeling Prince (as he has been known to do so well), but the music — swells of synths, droning piano and scratchy, electronic beats — is a million miles away from Prince. This knack for blending retro and contemporary sounds helps put Maxwell’s catalog in a different pop universe. “I try to embody what is going on now, but not be completely (beholden to) it,” he said. “Because I always want a record to outlast the trends of today.” “Shame” teases the as-of-yet unscheduled release of “Blacksummers’NIGHT,” the final installment of a trilogy of albums that started in 2009 with “BLACKsummers’night.” Maxwell will be back on the road in 2019 to promote the new album. But this tour looks both the future and past — the setlist includes “Shame” and a chunk of “Embrya” to commemorate the album’s 20th anniversary. “It’s the fork in the road tour,” he said. “I want it to have it all in there. What’s happening now and a look back at where I have come from. But there’ll be more shows. I’m on the road for two more years. I feel like it’s time to close this chapter and begin a new one, but that will take a while.”