blackSUMMERS'night

blackSUMMERS'night was Maxwell's first record in seven years, following 2009's BLACKsummers'night, which was the first in a planned trilogy of albums whose names were distinguished by the capitalization of letters in one phrase of the same title.[1] Maxwell told The Wall Street Journal in June 2016 that the trilogy is "loosely based on the concept of a night out for a woman named Black Summers". He produced most of blackSUMMERS'night with longtime collaborator Hod David.[2]

blackSUMMERS'night was released by Columbia Records on July 1, 2016.[1] In its first week of release, the album charted at number three on the Billboard 200 and sold 59,000 album-equivalent units, 57,000 of which were entire copies of the record. It became the fourth album of Maxwell's career to reach the top 10 of the chart.[3]

To promote the album, "Lake by the Ocean" was released on April 8, 2016, as the lead single.[4] On June 3, a lyric video for the song "1990x" was released.[5] Maxwell also toured the United States in support of the album, performing 29 concert dates from June to August.[6]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.3/10[7]
Metacritic	86/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Chicago Tribune	[10]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[11]
The Guardian	[12]
The Irish Times	[13]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]
Spin	8/10[16]
Uncut	9/10[17]
USA Today	[18]

blackSUMMERS'night was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 86, based on 15 reviews.[8]

Reviewing the album in the Los Angeles Times, Lorraine Ali found it charming and evocative while describing Maxwell as a "transcendent", multi-dimensional singer.[19] Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly said the record "exudes enough confidence to let his heart show and to let his music grow in any direction his muse demands" while offering "fresh textures to familiar soul sounds".[11] In the opinion of Rolling Stone's Joe Levy, "the music evokes a tradition disappearing before our eyes – the spiritualized eroticism of Prince, the jazzy soul extensions of Earth, Wind and Fire – without ever being of it."[15] In The Guardian, Dave Simpson called it "a classy comeback collection of anguished R&B".[12]

Paul Mardles was less enthusiastic in The Observer, suggesting the record lacked memorable songs and innovative sounds; apart from funky songs such as "Lake by the Ocean", blackSUMMERS'night makes Maxwell, "in the era of Frank Ocean, look like the yesterday’s man of R&B", Madles wrote.[20] Jim Carroll of The Irish Times also found the music relatively "old-fashioned" and wrote, "there are far too many moments here when he appears to be relying on that rich, chocolate voice to woo you rather than try something different or risky."[13] However, despite Carroll's critique, risky attempts aren't what the listening public rely upon hearing in order to enjoy music, as evidenced by the strong reception of blackSUMMERS'night.

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.[9]

• Patrick, Ryan B. (July 6, 2016). "Maxwell on His New Album and R&B in a Post-Prince World". Exclaim!.

• BlackSUMMERS'night at Discogs (list of releases)