"Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder) is a song by American R&B/

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul ...

singer

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

, released in July 1996 by Columbia as the second single from his debut album, ''

Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite ''Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite'' is the debut album by American R&B singer-songwriter Maxwell. It was recorded in 1994 and 1995 and released on April 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. Maxwell largely wrote and produced the album himself, recording i ...

'' (1996). The song was written by Maxwell, and

Itaal Shur Itaal Shur (born October 22, 1966) is an American composer, producer and musician. He has written songs for a number of musicians, including Maxwell, Jewel and Enrique Iglesias, and has produced records for various artists, including Kronos Qua ...

, and he also produced it. It peaked at number eight on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart, number 36 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and number 28 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by

Liz Friedlander Liz Friedlander (born December 9, 1970) is an American music video, television director and television producer. Originally from New York City, Friedlander moved to Pennsylvania to attend the Drama Conservatory school at Carnegie Mellon Universit ...

. The B side of the single is "Lock You Up N' Love Fa Days", which was previously unreleased and also written and produced by Musze.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

'' wrote that the song continues to revisit the classic soul ground first mined by legends like

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

and

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

. He remarked, "Cruising at a chilled midtempo pace, Maxwell flexes his voice to

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

heights while also displaying a rich lower register that's so sexy. Wrap in a rubbery bassline and jiggly funk guitars and you have a tasty single". Monyca D. Coleman from ''

Indianapolis Recorder The ''Indianapolis Recorder'' is an American weekly newspaper based in Indianapolis, Indiana. First published in 1895, the ''Recorder'' is the longest-running African-American newspaper in Indiana and fourth in the U.S. History The newspaper ...

'' praised it as "brilliant". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' stated, "It won't take long for the world to discover the Next Big Thing In Soul Music. Maxwell is quickly capturing hearts all over the world. He even got TAFKAP to do the sound of his recent Paris show. He oozes charisma and he has the musical clout to back it up. He glides his way through this mid-tempo smoothie with a delicious deep bass and wah wah guitars." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it three out of five, describing it as a "dreamy soul offering", that "could see him making inroads into the charts." Bob Jones from ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'' said it is "the next best thing since soul was invented. Awesome, truly awesome!" Malaysian newspaper ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

commented, "Forget about

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, this is the real thing! If ethereal tracks like "Ascension", "Whenever, Wherever" and "...Til the Cops Keep Knockin'" don't raise body temperatures, you're in serious "shagadelic" trouble my friend. Lights off, stimulus on!" Damien Mendis from the '' RM'' Dance Update praised the track, writing, "The class just oozes out of the speakers. He lays down sophisticated soul that will have purists gagging at the first four bars." He added, "So good it hurts." ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the sta ...

'' described it as "slinky". A writer for ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' called it a "smooth" and "slow" track, with a "sultry mood".

Chart performance

"Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" debuted on the ''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart in the US in August 1996, at number 11, eventually peaking at number eight and spending 29 weeks on the chart. It also spent eighteen weeks on the ''Billboard''

, peaking at number 36 on September 28, 1996. In Europe, the single reached the Top 30 in the UK, peaking at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart. But it was even more successful on the

UK R&B Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

, peaking at number six. Additionally, it also charted in Scotland, reaching number 52.

Retrospective response

In 2020, Christopher A. Daniel from Albumism stated that the song "keeps the groove in motion".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Stephen Cook named it one of the highlights from ''

''. Daryl Easlea for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 2009 felt it "was the rightful hit single".

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by American music video and television director and television producer

. At the beginning, Maxwell stands alone, dancing in the dark in a room that is a large stage surrounded by white screens. As he begins to sing, the light slowly turns on the singer. He is dressed in a shiny gray outfit and a band is now performing around him on stage. Throughout the video, different people are entering the room through a large oval opening. Towards the end, these people are dancing among the musicians while Maxwell sings until the end of the video. The video for "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" was later made available on Maxwell's official

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channel in 2009 and had generated more than 90 million views as of November 2023.

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

www.musze.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder) 1996 singles Maxwell (musician) songs 1995 songs Columbia Records singles Songs written by Itaal Shur Songs written by Maxwell (musician) Music videos directed by Liz Friedlander