Chris Staples GOLDEN AGE

With two decades of songwriting under his belt, both for prior indie rock bands (Twothirtyeight, Discover America) and for sporadic solo releases, Chris Staples seems to have settled as comfortably as one can into the role of introspective solo singer/songwriter with Golden Age. The title references the notion of an idealized past. In Staples' case, it would be a period before the diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, a bike accident that left him needing hip surgery, and the end of a long-term romantic relationship. He challenges the tendency to dwell on the past, however, noting at one point on the record, "Don't be afraid of who I used to be/I hate him too, he wasn't me." The intimate set of tunes has him delivering restrained vocals over a variety of arrangements that are never simply acoustic guitar but often feel like they are. The heavy-hearted "Always on My Mind" features piano, bass, and light acoustic guitar while Staples reminisces about someone no longer in his life ("Funny h