TORONTO - In the case of reclusive neo-soul singer Maxwell, it seems absence had definitely made the heart grow fonder.

The 35-year-old Brooklyn native, on his first tour in six years, touched down at Massey Hall on Sunday night and the charismatic singer-songwriter was greeted by swooning females and barking males during a sexy, soulful and smooth hour-and-20-minute set.

Maxwell has described the trek as a "pre-party tour celebration" for the forthcoming Black Summers' Night, a trilogy of new albums he expects to release over the next three years as the followup to his last studio record, 2001's Now.

The first installment, titled Black, was represented on Sunday night by two strong songs, Pretty Wings and Bad Habits, which saw the crowd in the palm of his hand.

But it was really the older material that got the nearly sold-out audience going, starting with the set-openers Get To Know Ya and No One, which saw enthusiastic fans immediately jump to their feet.

Backed by a 10-piece band, including a three-man horn section, all decked out in black suits with bow ties - with the exception of the casually dressed percussionist and a ballroom gowned-and-long black gloves-wearing female backup singer - Maxwell has definitely updated his earlier funkier hair and clothes for a more sophisticated look.

His long dreadlocks are gone, and along with the short hair, he wore a black suit, recalling a more modern Marvin Gaye due to his graceful dance moves and beautiful falsetto not to mention a million dollar smile and constant winks at the audience.

While introducing the third song of the night, Lifetime, Maxwell admitted: "I took too much time. I know I took too long. I want to thank you all for being so patient."

Honestly, no one seemed to care.

The fourth song, his beloved cover of Kate Bush's A Woman's Worth, drew some of the biggest cheers of the night as he dramatically sank to his knees to sing mid-song and the audience joined in on the words.

"I'm loving Toronto!" said Maxwell at one point. "Is this funky or what?"

Next up was the more upbeat Everywanting To Want You and Sumthin' Sumthin' followed by bedroom ballads like Was My Girl, Simply Beautiful, Fortunate, Til The Cops Come Knockin', and more dance and singalongs with Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder) and Whenever, Wherever, Whatever.

For his part, Maxwell seemed genuinely astounded at the response throughout the night.

"I can't believe this, I can't believe this," he said, shaking his head.

And when he sat down at the front of the stage to greet one particularly enthusiastic fan, she handed him a song she had written.

Fandom doesn't get much more committed than this.

Well, actually it does.

Just as he was trying to leave the stage before his encore, a fan threw up a huge pair of white underwear decorated with the words "be mine" inside a red heart.

Maxwell didn't skip a beat and threw the large lingerie around his shoulders like a cardigan and immediately launched into the next song.

Sun Rating: 4.5 out of 5