Album Reviews

Chris Price

Stop Talking

Artist:     Chris Price

Album:     Stop Talking

Label:     Omnivore Recordings

Release Date:     05/19/2017

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After five years spent mastering records for singer-songwriter icons Emitt Rhodes and Linda Perhacs, skilled producer and singer-songwriter Chris Price has finally released his second solo album, Stop Talking, on Omnivore Recordings. The record is a swirling journey of psychedelic instrumentation, expertly produced by Price himself.

Stop Talking opens with its title track, a loud, funky mixture of three separate melodies that might otherwise be at war with each other but are very much at home on the record. “Hi Lo” finds Price showing off a breathy falsetto atop unassuming acoustic chords and shimmers of percussion. “Man Down” is exceptional, a colorful modern-day companion, if you will, to Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out”, laden with strings and vocal versatility. A few tracks later, Price concocts a psych-pop jam session on “Algebra In The Sky.” With a mesmerizing looped intro, the song quickly moves into a punchy whirlwind of electric guitar and percussion. On “Darkness,” Price invites a wild slew of instruments — including electric guitar, a 12-string acoustic, bass, and more courtesy of Price himself — to add vibrancy to dismal lyrics. With a similar makeup of contradiction, “Just In Time” is a quick acoustic tune with such sweet vocals and a bubbly rhythm that its dark lyrics (“We showed up just in time for the end of the world”) barely register. Fourteen eclectic tracks later, Stop Talking is complete with “Anhedonia,” an almost boyish-sounding track with quiet harmonies and pretty acoustics as Price pleasantly sings about not being able to feel pleasure at all.

Chris Price is an inimitable talent. On Stop Talking, Price’s expert production, which is carefully crafted with thought and precision, allows his strong voice to soar and impressive instrumentation to experiment within the frame of each song, curating a listening experience that won’t soon be forgotten, if at all.

–Savannah Davanzo

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