Stop Talking

Audio Mixer: Chris Price .
Recording information: Reseda Ranch Studio (2013-2016); The Velveteen Laboratory (2013-2016).
Photographer: Kyle Safieh.
The sophomore solo LP from the Miami-based singer/songwriter and producer, Stop Talking is the follow-up to 2012's acclaimed Homesick. An in-demand engineer and producer, Chris Price was hardly idle during the years between the two releases, co-producing The Soul of All Natural Things, the sophomore album by '70s psych-folk singer Linda Perhacs -- her first in 44 years -- and working with power pop icon Emitt Rhodes on his first collection of new music since the early '70s, Rainbow Ends. Price's experience behind the board and natural pop acumen -- think Jellyfish, Posies, Michael Penn, etc. -- is apparent throughout the album's just over 40-minute running time, with highlights arriving via expertly crafted, radio-ready confections like "Man Down," "Sigh," and "Pulling Teeth," all three of which straddle the line between ornate '70s pop and paisley-tinged '90s alt-rock. Price's rich voice can go from winsome to soulful in just a few notes, and he's got the laid-back folk-pop flair of contemporaries like Jason Mraz and John Mayer. The subject matter can occasionally get heavy -- mental health, grief, and heartache all make themselves known -- but such is the singer/songwriter's milieu, and besides, there's enough Fab Four bubbling up beneath it all to keep things effervescent, even when the tales themselves break bad. ~ James Christopher Monger