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 “nosedive” is 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.
“nosedive” is 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.