ROLLING STONE

SOUL POWER MAXWELL’S INTERSTELLAR

Think of maxwell as R&B’s Thom Yourke – a cosmic love man riding open-ended grooves that shift from inner exploration to booty motivation in the blink of an eye . He’s always one kiss away from falsetto-powered interstellar over-drive-just seeing his lady’sface inspires “ a thousand races into space “ on All the Ways Love Can  Feel ,” the opening cut on his most consistent set since his debut, Urban Hang Suite , in 1996 . Maxwell anchors the cloud-eating sweep of these  tracks with solid guitar and bass hooks . Sure , on “ 1990”x his idea of a come-on is “ Let’s ride the galaxy and find who we are ,” but a timpani-fualed boom-bap grounds the trip . When hi proclaims he just wants to dance on “III” and then delivers a groove powered by roller-rink Seventies soul organ , it’s pure pleasure . From the dub-reggae bass line of “Lake by the Ocean “ to the sunshine –filled horn blasts of “Fingers Crossed , “the music evokes a trandition disappearing before our eyes-the spiritual-ized eroticisme of prince, the jazzy soul extensions of Earth , Wind and Fire-without ever being of it . Grab ahold , before it’s too late .