Maxwell's ambition was one of the appealing qualities of his debut, Urban Hang Suite, especially since very few of his contemporaries were attempting to expand the boundaries of contemporary R&B.
However, blessings can be curses, and that very ambition gets the better of Maxwell on his second album, Embrya.
Loaded with pretentious song titles ("Gestation: Mythos," "Arroz con Pollo," "Luxury: Cococure"), the album bogs down in its own sophistication and his desire to make deep, serious music.
Like Terence Trent d'Arby -- whose Neither Fish Nor Flesh offers a frightening parallel to Embrya -- Maxwell wants to be so much more than just another soul crooner, but his gifts become obscured the more he pushes them forward.
To be sure, Embrya is far from a washout.
Maxwell does have a remarkable voice and he can write really good modern soul songs -- it's just that he has a tendency to think that's not enough and then he overstuffs his songs with ideas that lead nowhere.
With a little more focus, Embrya could have been an impressive second step.
As it stands, it's a bit of a sophomore stumble, albeit one with promising moments.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matrimony: Maybe YouMusze | Maxwell | Play | 04:38 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | Arroz con PolloMusze | Maxwell | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 3 | Know These Things: Shouldn't YouStuart Matthewman, Musze | Maxwell | Play | 05:15 | 12 MB | 31 MB |
| 4 | Gravity: Pushing to PullStuart Matthewman, Musze | Maxwell | Play | 06:12 | 14 MB | 42 MB |
| 5 | Eachhoureachsecondeachminuteeachday: Of My LifeMusze | Maxwell | Play | 05:50 | 13 MB | 39 MB |
| 6 | EmbryaMusze | Maxwell | Play | 03:02 | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| 7 | Drowndeep- Hula | Maxwell | Play | 05:41 | 13 MB | 32 MB |
| 8 | Luxury- Cococure | Maxwell | Play | 05:32 | 12 MB | 35 MB |
| 9 | Submerge- Til We Become The Sun | Maxwell | Play | 06:25 | 14 MB | 34 MB |
| 10 | Everwanting: To Want You to Want | Maxwell | Play | 07:30 | 17 MB | 51 MB |
| 11 | I'm You: You Are Me and We Are You (Pt Me & You) | Maxwell | Play | 06:35 | 15 MB | 42 MB |
| 12 | Gestation: Mythos | Maxwell | Play | 03:09 | 7 MB | 13 MB |
| 62 mins | 143 MB | |||||
| 62 mins | 377 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gloria Agostini | Harp |
| 2 | Chris Apostle | Production Coordination |
| 3 | Carl Carter | Bass |
| 4 | Tom Coyne | Mastering |
| 5 | Clark Gayton | Trombone |
| 6 | Kerry Griffin | Drums |
| 7 | Lisa Guastella | Production Coordination Assistant |
| 8 | Russell Gunn | Trumpet |
| 9 | Reggie Hamilton | Bass, Guitar (Nylon String) |
| 10 | Bashiri Johnson | Percussion |
| 11 | Gene Lake | Drums |
| 12 | Glen Marchese | Engineer, Mixing |
| 13 | Stuart Matthewman | Beats, Composer, Guitar, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Sax (Baritone), Saxophone, Songwriter |
| 14 | Maxwell | Primary Artist, Producer, Songwriter, Vocals |
| 15 | Greg Moore | Guitar |
| 16 | Musze | Beats, Composer, Engineer, Horn Arrangements, Mixing, Producer, Vocals |
| 17 | Mike Pela | Associate Producer, Mixing |
| 18 | Julian Peploe | Art Direction |
| 19 | Susan Poliacik | Cello |
| 20 | Matthew Raimondi | Violin |
| 21 | Andrew Richardson | Stylist |
| 22 | Daniel Sadownick | Percussion |
| 23 | Veronica Salas | Viola |
| 24 | Darrell Smith | Beats, Digital Engineer, Engineer, Producer |
| 25 | Mario Sorrenti | Phjo |
| 26 | Gerald Tarack | Violin |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |