R&B singer Maxwell is back with a new project, which he said is inspired by his fans. But what took him so long to make a comeback?

On Tuesday, S2S was part of a very lucky audience that previewed Maxwell’s forthcoming album, BLACKsummers’ night, which will be released in three discs over three years. 

The first part of the trilogy drops on July 7. It's the singer's first album since 2001.
 
The project went through an evolution of sorts, and it was written over the course of Maxwell’s most recent tour. He completed the album when the trip wrapped.
 
“I feel that, going out on the road, I got so much inspiration from the people who didn’t need anything but what the music was,” Maxwell told the crowd. He explained that, in his view, music has gotten away from simple, stripped-down performances. “To have … the gift of people who just need me onstage, and that’s it—that was enough to make the record even better than I thought it could ever be,” he said.
 
But he admitted that the confidence he displayed onstage was all a. “I’m a really insecure person at best. I front hard on that stage. It’s all fake,” Maxwell admitted with a laugh.
 
It’s been eight years since the crooner has put out an album, and fans want to know where he’s been.
 
“I’ve been making music for myself.  I’ve been looking at the landscape. You know, the industry’s changed so much,” Maxwell acknowledged. “To be totally honest … I felt disenchanted. I felt, in some ways, the industry’s preferential treatment.”
 
Thankfully, he was able to work through that, telling the crowd that his musical dream is worth whatever drama the music industry might throw at him.
 

Check out the video for “Pretty Wings,” the trilogy's first single:

-- Sonya Eskridge