Now

Now is the third studio album by American R&B and neo soul musician Maxwell, released August 14, 2001 on Columbia Records in the United States. Following the lukewarm radio success of his previous album Embrya (1998), Maxwell felt more comfortable with his artistic direction for Now, which does not exhibit his previous work’s conceptual style.[11] The album sold over 296,000 units in the U.S. in the first week, according to SoundScan, to earn him his first-ever number one album. Now’s second single “This Woman’s Work”, a live staple of Maxwell’s,[12] charted at number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 16 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[13][14] Despite some negative criticism towards Maxwell’s songwriting,[5][15][16] Now received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 78/100 from Metacritic.[17] The album serves as Maxwell’s last release before an eight-year hiatus, which culminated in the release of his fourth studio album, BLACKsummers’night (2009).[18Review

Maxwell is a gifted record-maker, which isn’t necessarily the same thing as a gifted songwriter. He has a nice, sweet voice, a healthy love for classic soul from Marvin to Prince, an appealing arty streak largely missing from contemporary R&B, and he can arrange his self-recorded productions quite alluringly, balancing the guitars, synths, drum machines, and horns nimbly, often coming up with fresh songs.