Now
Three years after the scatteredEmbrya, new-soul  prodigy Maxwell returns withNow, his most fully realized disc  yet. While not as ambitious asD'Angeloor just  plain flippin'-off-the-wall asMacy Gray, the  singer-songwriter does claim a stance: acoustic-guitar-based, near-tone  poems ("Sympton Unknown") andKate Bushcovers  ("This Woman's Work") are hardly the stuff of your average pop-R&B; love  man. Maxwell's lush thickets of overdubbed vocals could stand as a fine  listen on their own; the varied textures of the instrumental tracks  make the flow that much more inviting. Steel guitar subtly fires "W/As  My Girl," while a rock-influenced beat gives "Temporary Nite" a groove  both choppy and slippery.Now's unity of feel and often pensive  tone bring it a cohesive air. Even the potentially throwaway last  track, "Now/At the Party," works as more than just an exercise in  '70s-party groove. If the many brokenhearted plaints here were telling  a story, it would provide a suitably happy ending.--Rickey  Wright