Chris Mills Silver Line CD

Chris Mills is a talented singer/songwriter who specializes in heartache with occasional undercurrents of bitterness and self-pity. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to sound somewhat generic, a limitation that is particularly evident on "Sleepwalking," which seems so much like the work of a run-of-the-mill (no pun intended) bar band that it's easy to overlook the less-routine lyrics. On some of the other tracks, David Nagler and Eric Roth contribute tasteful string and horn arrangements that don't necessarily enhance the individual songs; for example, "Don't Be Crushed" loses some of its emotional impact because of the saccharine string accompaniment. Mills has mastered an earnest, melancholy vocal style, but he has a tendency to stick with this approach even when a greater sense of anger or sarcasm would seem better-suited to his own lyrics; he even manages to sing the opening of "Diamond" ("I heard you're a drunk/And you never shut up/The word on the street/Is that your sweet ass/Is totally f*cked") as if he was wistfully describing another rainy day. Nonetheless, the songs themselves are fairly solid and hold up well to repeated listening, even if the performances don't always make the most of their potential. ~ Todd Kristel

Personnel: Chris Mills (vocals, guitar); Chris Mills (vocals, guitar); Ryan Hembrey (various instruments, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, shaker, background vocals); Frederick Lonberg-Holm (cello); Nate Lepine (tenor saxophone); Nate Wolcott (trumpet); Jeb Bishop (trombone); David Nagler (piano); Gerald Dowd (drums, percussion, background vocals).

Recording information: Engine Music Studios, Chicago, IL (11/2001-03/2002); Papa Bear Studios, Collinsville, IL (11/2001-03/2002).

Personnel: Chris Mills (vocals, guitar); Ryan Hembrey (piano, bass); Gerald Dowd (drums, background vocals).

Additional personnel: Eric Johnson (vocals, banjo); Kelly Hogan, Nora O'Connor (vocals); Susan Voelz (violin); Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello); Nate Wolcott (trumpet); Jeb Bishop (trombone); David Nagler (piano); Dave Max Crawford (keyboards).

Q (11/02, p.108) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The gusto of the playing rewards repeated listening..."
Uncut (12/02, p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...There's no denying the allure of hearts cracking quietly..."
Magnet (1/03, p.98) - "...A batch of flat-out fantastic songs....Throughout, Mills decorates his straight-forward melodies with horns, strings and keys that twinkle like stars..."