mixtape maestro (2.0)

Jneiro Jarel, Philly hip hop producer and partner to Goodie Mob’s Khujo in the experimental side project gig Willie Isz (think of them as an even more spaced-out sibling to Gnarls Barkley), injects a lil’ left-field bump ‘neath Maxwell’s three-weeks-and-counting comeback R&B chart topper “Pretty Wings” on this killer remix, knocking the silky ballad slightly askew with some oft-kilter drum thump and down-right spooky ethereal synth additions.

Club-ready? Not exactly. But if you were having problems staying focused on the road because you were too busy zoning out to your “inner happy place” at the hands of the lullabye-ish original, think of this as the more automobile-friendly edition.

Willie Isz’ debut Georgiavania is available now.

DL: “Pretty Wings (Willie Isz/ Jneiro Jarel Remix)” (alt)

It’s been eight loooooong, frustrating years since Maxwell has delivered anything new to us (which really should be a crime). But thankfully, we can now peel his face off the back of the same milk carton that houses other reclusive soul-sters Lauryn, D’Angelo and Sade, because he’s finally come out of hibernation to soundtrack some new laidback, rainy day afternoons and sensual, candlelit evenings.

Plans are currently set for him to release a trilogy collection entitled BLACKsummersnight over the next three years, and the first taste of this ambitious project is the sleepy ballad “Pretty Wings”, which finds Maxwell appreciably sounding just as silky and smooth as we last remembered.

Atop another one of those patiently paced midnight grooves his falsetto works so well within, Maxie is heard hear lambasting himself for the part he played in a romance’s dissolution (“I came wrong/ You were right…/ I should have showed you better nights, better times, better days”); yet as much as it pains him to be separated from his boo, the ever-gentleman understands the importance in allowing her her freedom so she can find a better reciprocating lover down the line.

Gently awakened by the addition of some horns mid-way through that elevate the record through it’s fadeout on a bewitching live band high, “Pretty Wings” hits all the right Maxwell notes.

A solid comeback effort.

Look for BLACK‘s arrival in July.