Maxwell will release his first new studio album in eight years on July 7.

"BLACKsummers ‘night," part one of a trilogy, will come out July 7, according to Columbia Records.We're sensing a theme here. The second CD in the trilogy, slated for 2010, will be called "BlackSUMMERS' night," while part three will be, you guessed it, "Blacksummers' NIGHT." Let the confusion begin now. We can just see customers going into record stores and asking, "Do you have ‘BLACKsummers' night?" and the clerk will go, "Do you mean ‘BlackSUMMERS' night?'" That, of course, will only be if there are any record stores still standing.
That seems like an ambitious release schedule-three albums in three years-from someone who has waiting eight years between CDs, but music from neo-soul singer Maxwell is a welcome thing indeed.

First single, "Pretty Wings," is a pleasing mid-tempo ballad that showcases his gorgeous voice. Once again, he sounds like no one else on radio right now in terms of his impressive vocal range and the production. The lyrics are fairly pedestrian about letting a lover go to find herself, but his delivery is anything but standard.

Maxwell will start a tour in support of "BLACKsummers' night" on June 20 in Milwaukee. Playing live last summer helped him get his groove back to finish the albums, he tells the AP.

"To have the gift of having people just need me to be onstage ... that was enough for me to make the best album I could make," he added.

Check out the official Video for "Pretty Wings" below.