Maxwell – Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite (1996)

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Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite is the debut album by American R&B singer-songwriter Maxwell. It was recorded in 1994 and 1995, then released on April 2, 1996, by Columbia Records.

Maxwell largely wrote and produced the album himself, recording in sessions at Electric Lady Studios, RPM, Sorcerer, and Chung King Studios in New York City, and CRC recording studios in Chicago. The resulting music features a mellow, groove-based sound with elements of funk, jazz, smooth soul, and quiet storm. A concept album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite was composed as a song cycle that focuses on an adult romance, based in part on Maxwell’s personal experiences.

Although one of his earliest influences was early 1980s urban R&B, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite was inspired by the sounds and themes of classic soul artists such as Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Barry White, Stevie Wonder and Prince . According to Prince biographer Alex Hahn, Maxwell adopts the singer’s sound and style, particularly from songs such as “Do Me, Baby” (1982) and “Pink Cashmere” (1993), while The New York Times‘s Amy Linden said that he “melds a soft-spoken singing style with the fluid, spacious grooves often associated with the cocktail funk of Sade”. Critics have also noted Maxwell’s falsetto singing voice, and the music’s atmospheric, funky instrumentation, featuring mellow horns, wah wah guitar, Rhodes piano and deep, articulate bass lines. The tempo of the songs slowly diminishes through the course of the album’s songs. One critic attributes the tempo decrease to Stuart Matthewman’s production. The album contains elements of funk, jazz, contemporary R&B and quiet storm, and it is mostly composed of sexual balladry and slow jams.

A concept album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite is a song cycle that focuses on an adult romance from first encounter to its dramatic conclusion. Over the course of the album, Maxwell details a single passionate encounter. Throughout, it examines the concept with lyrical themes of love, sex and spirituality, as well as issues such as commitment, marriage and monogamy. Maxwell has described the themes and his thoughts on romance as “idealistic” on Urban Hang Suite. Rolling Stone editor David Fricke compared the album’s concept to that of Marvin Gaye’s 1978 record Here, My Dear, which dealt with his divorce, saying that Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite had been reworked as a treatise on monogamy. The album has been noted for the sincerity of Maxwell’s lyrics, which depict a man’s weakness and vulnerability to a woman’s love. In an interview with music journalist Mark Coleman, Maxwell cited his respect for African-American women as the inspiration for the respectful nature of his lyrics towards women. Maxwell told Interview‘s Dimitri Erhlich that his main muse for Urban Hang Suite was women, and further elaborated on his inspiration, stating:

I think creativity is innately feminine. Obviously women at 12 or 13 get either cursed or blessed with the fact that they’re vessels for human life to come through. And that’s what music–what creativity–is to me. I guess being a man is a truly physical state and mentally it’s a little bit limiting. But what I’m talking about is not a person’s ‘female side’ or ‘male side’. The only way I can pay homage to that feminine thing–not necessarily women but to what they represent as creative forces–is by getting artistic and making music.

Maxwell also cited his grandmother and other West Indian women he knows as the inspiration behind his romantic notions. Music journalists inferred that the album was inspired by or based on an unsuccessful affair in Maxwell’s life. Maxwell said in an interview, “I’m so innately romantic and always have been, and I went through this particular romantic experience and based my album on that”. The album’s liner notes have a dedication from Maxwell to his “musze”, stating “I could never have done this without you”.

The album opens with an instrumental track, “The Urban Theme”, which begins with the sound of a stylus dropping on a vinyl record. The track’s prominent funk sound is reminiscent of the music of the Brand New Heavies. “Welcome” features the album’s prominent sexual vibe, and contains a quiet storm sound and saxophone. The two opening tracks both contain prominent funk influence. Roni Sarig wrote that their “early ’80s full-band R&B and jazz pop grooves are reminiscent of Maze‘s brightest days and Steely Dan‘s coolest nights.” The funk-influenced “Sumthin’ Sumthin'”, which was co-written by Leon Ware, contains a strong, rhythmically tight groove created by the implementation of the “pocket” bass technique. Co-written by songwriter Itaal Shur, “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)” opens with a funky groove and bass line, and features a forceful rhythm and rough funk sound. The song contains strong gospel overtones with references to God in the lyrics. The song has been covered by gospel artists such as Londa Larmond and LaShun Pace.

Cited by Blender magazine as one of the “Greatest Make-Out Songs of All Time”, “…Til the Cops Come Knockin'” contains sexually explicit lyrics and a slower tempo than its preceding tracks. It also contains the sound of distant sirens and “grinding porn-movie” guitar licks. The songs “Whenever Wherever Whatever” and “Lonely’s the Only Company (I & II)” are ballads that contain themes of vulnerability to love. “Suitelady (The Proposal Jam)” completes the album’s concept of monogamy with lyrics depicting a marriage proposal from Maxwell. Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite closes with the instrumental track “The Suite Theme”. While the length of the track is listed as 13:47 minutes, the song ends after 6:00 minutes, followed by a period of silence, before resuming with a hidden track, which consists of 1:41 minutes of an instrumental version of “…Til the Cops Come Knockin'”.

 

Track listing

  1. The Urban Theme – 2:42
  2. Welcome – 5:18
  3. Sumthin’ Sumthin’ – 4:18
  4. Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder) – 5:46
  5. Dancewitme – 6:15
  6. …Til the Cops Come Knockin’ – 6:56
  7. Whenever Wherever Whatever – 3:45
  8. Lonely’s the Only Company (I & II) – 6:22
  9. Reunion – 4:53
  10. Suitelady (The Proposal Jam) – 4:48
  11. The Suite Theme (ends at 6:00; hidden track at 12:06) – 13:47

 

Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released: April 2, 1996
Recorded: 1994–1995 Studio Electric Lady – RPM, Sorcerer . Chung King (New York). CRC (Chicago)
Genre: R&B, Neo soul, retro-soul
Length: 64:47
Producer(s): Maxwell, Peter Mokran, Stuart Matthewman

Label – Columbia Records

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