The solo output of singer and songwriter Chris Staples has been markedly different from the emo band sound that launched his career. That was with Twothirtyeight nearly thirty years ago, after which he went on to release music under the name Discover America, but it was subsequent solo work with albums like ‘American Soft’ and ‘Golden Age’ that have seen him lean into an introspective Americana style. In this context, his music has evolved into something both warm and minimalist with lyrics that are simultaneously personal and poetic, and this is where we find him on new album ‘Don’t Worry,’ a record born out of a life gear change for Chris, finally taking the foot off the gas of a schedule that has seen him performing at least five hundred times across twelve countries in tandem with seven studio albums. Instead, since 2023, he has afforded himself the space and time for deeper reflection and recollection from what would appear to be an easing of his domestic situation. What has arrived on the other side is an album that, in both its lyrical becalm and steady audio breathing, is a beautiful portrait of stillness.
Many of the songs possess a vocal style that, if not quite whispered, is delivered in a manner like Chris is sitting across the room playing face to face. It is personal with no need to overemote. A song like Talk About Your Day is the perfect example of this, a number that summons thoughts of the very thing the title suggests, a couple alone together searching for the energy to share honestly about the day just gone. There is no singularity of mood though; instead, we are moved along many different states and tempos. Good Enough For Now is indisputably a solid album highlight, a swaying country lament with some of the most soothing pedal steel parts you will ever turn your ears towards; it may well be a tale of hardship, but the message is a positive one. With lyrics that reference his name not being on the deed but the roof still covering their heads and then “the ring hasn’t found her finger yet, but she’s laughing in the bed, we’re still happy somehow”, this is a very relatable and fundamentally uplifting tune that showcases Chris’s supreme facility for honing in on smaller details to paint a vivid, colourful real life picture.
Doesn’t Matter Now is similarly sharp and incisive in its dissection of human relationships and emotional triggers leading to regret. The reference to The Lemonheads ‘It’s A Shame About Ray’ on cassette suggests a significant gap between the events described in the lyric and the narrator’s thought process. Still, it is clear that the specifics of the fall out, such as it was, all those years ago weigh less on his mind than the deeper feelings and historical connections towards the individual concerned. On the title track, we enjoy the voice of Kylie Dailey adding some harmony, a nice extra human touch, almost reassuringly informing us that Chris is not totally alone in his melancholy. The sound across the whole record is highly intimate, although not limited to guitar and voice. We frequently hear the aforementioned pedal steel of Alan Parker, whilst the drums of Kyle Crane and the piano of Daniel Walker add to the depths of textures with admirably subtle touches. For example, there are keys on A Cold New York Morning that sound frozen to the touch, making them the perfect sonic addition.
I must say I do like the front cover, depicting Chris slumped in a porch conversing with an obscured female figure; it recalls the days when record cover art would relate tangibly to the content of the music held within. However, do not let that shot determine that these are primarily current concerns; there is a frequent blurring of the lines between the present and the past. Sometimes, as on San Pedro Avenue, where the first sung lyric is the year “1999”, Chris does specifically time-stamp these ruminations, but often there are only hints as to whether we are singing about the current moment or a distant memory. Given that the gestation period for the album was a couple of years, it is tempting to believe that at a certain point Staples hit upon the timelessness idea and developed it to this completed work. If so, it was a very well-executed creative journey. For the record, the piece we can listen to and delve into today offers a beautiful rumination on a lifetime’s worth of triumphs, regrets, personal growth, and revised thoughts, all enabled by the maturity and experience gained with age. Essentially, it is an album about life and living, a celebration and meditation on the sense and senselessness of it all.
Don’t Worry (August 5th, 2025) Hot Tub Recordings
EU Tour Dates
30.09 LILLE OLE BULL / BERGEN, NO
01.10 GOTT POB / NESBYEN, NO
02.10 SALT / OSLO, NO
03.10 ALLHELGONAKYRKAN / STOCKHOLM, SE
07.10 VEGA / COPENHAGEN, DK
08.10 AALHAUS / HAMBURG, DE
09.10 PRIVATECLUB / BERLIN, DE
11.10 MORITZBASTEI / LEIPZIG, DE
12.10 DE GUDDE WELLEN, LUXEMBOURG
14.10 MILLA / MUNICH, DE
15.10 KLEIN ARENA / WIEN, AT
17.10 ARCI BELLEZA / MILANO, IT
18.10 X-TRA CAFE / ZÜRICH, CH
19.10 STANS / CHÄSLAGER, CH
20.10 PRIVATE SHOW / MULHOUSE, FR
22.10 DABADABA / SAN SEBASTIAN, ES
23.10 PRIVATE SHOW / SAVERDUN, FR
25.10 LAUT / BARCELONA, ES
26.10 SIROCO / MADRID, ES
29.10 TOLHUISTUIN / AMSTERDAM, NL
30.10 VENLO / JORISKERK, NL
01.11 KUUDES / HELSINKI, FL
05.11 SAINT LUKE’S / GLASGOW, UK
06.11 BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB / LEEDS, UK
07.11 ELECTRIC BRISTOL / BRISTOL, UK
08.11 02 FORUM KENTISH TOWN / LONDON, UK