Jesse Maxwell: Bringing new life to R&B and soul

The Toronto artist goes in depth with CanCulture, talking about his current album rollout and creative process

By: Alex Wauthy 

Toronto singer-songwriter and producer Jesse Maxwell is making waves through his mood-changing R&B and soul music that puts listeners in a soothing trance. Maxwell has accumulated over 20,000 listeners on Spotify thus far; an increase of over 5,000 listeners since the start of 2022. 

His rise in the soul scene is no surprise, as his recent single nosediveis an elegant song that has quickly resided atop his most popular songs on Spotify. 

Maxwell began releasing music in 2019 and dropped his debut album Radio Silence in 2020. Following this release, he came out with Hellion, a six-song EP that houses his biggest song to date, undone.” The song, released as a single for the promotion for the EP, has accumulated over 300,000 streams on Spotify alone. 

nosediveis the lead single for his upcoming album — and the spacey and psychedelic song is getting attention due to its infectious melodies. Fans can look forward to more music coming soon with an array of new sounds and styles. 

“‘nosedive’ was the first single and people are liking it, but I have another single coming out soon,” says Maxwell. “The next song coming out is called ‘love crime.’ It's this jazzy, guitar and vocal method, it's different. I think we are coming out with four singles for the album.”

His new single, set to release sometime in the spring, sees Maxwell taking a new approach, aside from the rhythms and harmonies sung. Using he/him pronouns in this upcoming single will break personal barriers for the artist.

“‘love crime,’ the next single coming out, is all directed at the male pronoun,” says Maxwell. “I love that, because I haven't really done that [before].”

Maxwell is also taking creative strides with his new album, looking to blend various genres and show off his creativity as an artist.

“The vibe I have been going with is crooner meets experimental and moody. I have also been getting into ambient music,” says Maxwell. “I do not like making two songs that sound the same and that is something I am excited about on this album.” 

As is the case with most musicians, those who have paved the way for a genre or sound are massive influences for upcoming artists like Maxwell. His comment of “crooner-meets-experimental” is reflected in the artists he views as inspirations.

“I am very inspired by James Blake. His self-titled record has changed my view of how to approach music. Back then, he stayed in his pocket of crooner meets experimental,” says Maxwell. “James Blake, Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, and Daniel Caesar have framed the way I view music.”

Collaborations with artists are not out of the realm of possibility for Maxwell. Local artists and world-renowned superstars are potential suitors for him to curate a ballad with. 

“In terms of Toronto artists, I would love to do a collaboration with Charlotte Day Wilson, that would be a beautiful song,” says Maxwell. “In general, I would love to collaborate with James Blake, I am in awe of his production.” 

Before the recent wave of lockdowns, Maxwell took the stage at Supermarket in November 2021, which was his latest live performance. 

“It was so surreal, I hadn't performed my solo stuff live yet because I was living in New York fronting for another band,” says Maxwell. “When I started putting out records, everything was closed. We had performed a month before at Horseshoe Tavern and then we headlined the Supermarket, the energy was just crazy.” 

Maxwell will perform more once pandemic restrictions ease in Ontario. A combination of rapid growth over the last few months and the public wanting live music will lift his live performances to new heights. 

“I am planning to do another show at Supermarket in May,” says Maxwell. “It is hard to plan things right now since everything is so up in the air.” 

Diving deep into Maxwell’s catalogue will provide you with songs containing different meanings and sounds for listeners to interpret in their own way. Choosing a personal favourite can be challenging for an artist, and Maxwell was no exception — however, there is one song that stands out to him overall. 

“In general, I love ‘Undone’ because that song was not planned to write and is something very close to my heart,” says Maxwell. “The song is about me struggling to be OK with my own sexuality, so to me, that was a very interesting process.” 

“Undone” was written in only 30 minutes. In a short amount of time, Maxwell created a beautiful song, talking about something extremely personal. 

“It was something I always wanted to talk about, because at the time, all my pronouns were directed at [women],” says Maxwell.  “It was about me being OK with myself and not fighting that idea, for anyone that knows that I think it adds a new meaning. It was very organic.”

Jesse Maxwell is on the rise. His ability to combine a variety of different sounds makes him a prominent up-and-coming artist to watch in the Toronto music scene. His album rollout, continuing through the spring and summer months, will provide listeners with a plethora of new music to chill out with during the warm days ahead of us.

One day at a time: The rise of Charlotte Day Wilson

Poised for stardom, the singer is at the centre of Toronto’s ripening sound

By: Kayla Higgins

Charlotte Day Wilson (thecomeupshow via Openverse)

When you think about Toronto’s R&B landscape, the game-changing players — like PARTYNEXTDOOR, dvsn and Majid Jordan — are undoubtedly some of the best and first that come to mind. Within the scene, Toronto-based Charlotte Day Wilson has solidified herself as a singular creative force; with a soulful voice ranging from R&B to folk, she believes in wearing her heart on her sleeve.

Prior to the 29-year-old’s 2012 debut EP, Palimpsest, Wilson’s extensive musical education began with classical piano classes. In Grade 9, she shifted her focus to GarageBand, beginning to hone in on her talent with the digital audio workstation.

While studying women’s studies and music at university in Halifax, she contributed vocals, keys and saxophone to new-age funk cover band The Wayo and began performing her own music at various open mics around campus. 

Late-night mom advice helped the musician to realize that she wasn’t cut out for college life. Deciding to drop out in order to focus on her music career, she moved to Montreal to begin writing her own music, where she found herself to be a part of a bustling queer community.

The self-released Palimpsest saw her debut with hints of folk, soul, jazz and hip-hop, with standalone singles “Avondale,” “Stephen,” and “Montreal” being released shortly after. 

After six months in Montreal, the city had almost convinced the singer that a go at the life of a musician was unreachable. Wilson secured an internship at legendary Toronto-based record label Arts & Crafts, whose fully stocked lineup includes Broken Social Scene, Feist, Aphasia and BADBADNOTGOOD. 

When Aaron Miller, an artist manager at the label, saw her perform at an open mic, he told her not to look for another job once her internship had ended, but to instead put all her time into creating new material — and he would manage her. 

Making vital connections — and eventually creating lifelong friendships — with other progressive-sounding Toronto artists, including Daniel Caesar, River Tiber and BBNG, Wilson refined her own sonic territory through the 2016 sophomore EP, the self-titled CDW; her big break onto the Toronto music scene. Caesar’s 2017 hit album, Freudian saw the two collaborate for the first time (“Transform”), leading to further collaborations on BBNG’s IV (“In Your Eyes”) and KAYTRANADA’s Polaris Music Prize-winning, 99.9% (“What You Need.”)

With influences from Arthur Russell and other notable soulful acts, the six-track project solidified her as a force to be reckoned with in the recording studio and production booth, adding to her repertoire of impressive self-produced work.

The most classic-feeling track on the project, “Work,” earned Wilson a placement in an Apple commercial. “That sync put some money in my pocket and made it possible for me to quit my job and pursue music full time,” Wilson told Toronto Star in an interview last year.

The song went on to be nominated for the SOCAN Songwriting Prize in 2017, while the EP was longlisted as a nominee for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. Wilson’s music video for “Work,” directed by Fantavious Fritz, won the 2018 Prism Prize. The duo subsequently announced that they’d donate part of the prize money to a women’s shelter, and use the remainder to create a one-time grant for female directors. Producer Howie Beck’s contributions to the song earned him a 2017 Juno Award nomination. The song also became the unofficial anthem for the global protests that made up the Women’s March in 2017.

Fast-forward two years and Wilson released her third EP, Stone Woman, in 2018, after selling out two nights at the Danforth Music Hall — the same venue that collaborator and friend Daniel Caesar recently played for five consecutive nights. Following a period in her life that saw her music career take off, the EP also surrounds the eroding relationship between her and a then-long-term girlfriend.

Her song “Falling Apart” was sampled on James Blake’s 2020 track “I Keep Calling,” which also featured production and songwriting from River Tiber, BBNG’s Matthew Taveres, and more. In 2018, Vinyl Me, Please released an exclusive album that compiled both CDW and Stone Woman. 

“I was expelling all of the things that were going on personally,” Wilson said in a 2018 Fader interview about the EP, written in her parents' basement with help from BBNG’S Tavares. 

With the 2021 release of her first full-length album, Alpha, under her own Stone Woman Records, the project features fresh Toronto talent like Merna Bishouty, and homecomers Daniel Caesar and BBNG. Her songs have since been sampled by powerhouses like Drake and John Mayer.

With three EP’s, an album and a plethora of love under her belt, Wilson is just getting started.

Daniel Caesar: Behind the genre-defying sound and soul

By Will Lofsky

124.2k Likes, 1,512 Comments - Daniel Caesar (@danielcaesar) on Instagram: "grammy weekend diary, for @ssense. shot & styled by @byseanbrown + @keavanx. #ssense"

Feature image courtesy Sean Brown and Keavan Yazdani via danielcaesar on Instagram

Toronto’s music scene has drastically changed over the decade from Drake-inspired moody R&B to auto-tuned trap that very few musicians have failed to stand out, with the exception of Daniel Caesar, also known as Canada’s Frank Ocean.

Ashton Simmonds, better known as Daniel Caesar, is the 23-year-old Grammy Award winning songwriter, musician, and incredible vocalist from Oshawa, Ont. He first made his way to Toronto after getting expelled from his Christian high-school and kicked out of the house by his father for selling a small amount of weed to another student.

Times were not easy for Caesar. He worked dead-end jobs and once slept on a park bench in Trinity Bellwoods Park between couch surfing at friend’s homes. “There were low points,” Caesar told Exclaim! “And I know that I could go back home, if it really came down to that.”

Growing up in a religious household that did not support secular music influenced Caesar’s gospel-infused, genre-defying blend of soul, rock, pop, and jazz. Through deep, reflective tracks about sex, love, money, spirituality and longing, Caesar connects to his audience in a way that so many artists cannot.

Caesar first built momentum off of his independently-released EPs Birds of Paradise, Praise Break, and Pilgrim’s Paradise, which featured a collaboration with long-term friend and co-founder of the IXXI Initiative, Sean Leon, and BADBADNOTGOOD, a world-renowned Jazz band formed by Humber College students in 2010.

After connecting with Kali Uchis for his Grammy nominated hit, “Get You,” which now has 75 million views on YouTube and 200 million streams on Spotify, Caesar began performing more regularly and putting together his debut album, Freudian.

Courtesy Daniel Caesar via YouTube

Following the success of “Get You,” Caesar prepared for his take-over, “It was kind of like this is our moment,” said Caesar to Exclaim! “We knew that if we put out a subpar project, we could lose all the momentum.”

Freudian, an album by Daniel Caesar on Spotify

Once released, Freudian blew up and landed the #1 on iTunes top charts with “Get You” and “Best Part” featuring H.E.R going platinum in Canada and the US. In 2017, Freudian won a Juno for R&B/ Soul recording of the year, and earned two Grammy nominations; one for Best R&B Album and one for Best R&B Performance of “Get You.”

As Freudian continued to take over 2018, Caesar became the first male in history to land his first two commercial singles “Get You” and “Best Part” on the #1 spot of Billboard’s Adult R&B chart. Caesar closed off the year with a surprise single called “Who Hurt You?” a beautiful slow jam with rich harmonies, psychedelic, phased-out guitar riffs, and smooth, raw vocals that sound like you’re in the studio with him.

Courtesy EscapeTracks via YouTube

Now internationally recognized, Caesar’s “Best Part” won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance on stage of the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019.  

Courtesy Recording Academy / GRAMMYs via YouTube

While still early on his career, it’s safe to say that Caesar has made a lasting impact on Toronto and will continue to inspire the next generation of singers in the city and GTA.