Photos by Jayme Ellis
Boston based neo-soul artist Chris Walton has graced listeners with a new EP, Fade. The three track collection was released on February 25th, and showcases Walton’s evolved style and buttery vocals. Inspired by love & relationships all around him, not just his own, Walton has written songs that can relate to everyone.
Starting off in pure slow seduction, “With the Lights On” quickly shifts into a more upbeat jazz sound before returning to that groove from earlier in the track. Walton effortlessly displays the wide range in his vocals while paying homage to influences such as Sade, John Mayer and Lauryn Hill. “Before I could even remember, my mom said as a baby I would be moving around when she would play her Lauryn Hill records,” recounts Walton. On the second track “Whatcha Say”, Walton gets into his more Funk and psych-rock influences like Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. Wrapping up with title track “Fade”, Walton brings us back to that smoky & sultry lounge vibe before sending listeners off with the lyric “I know I can’t make you stay, but I’ll be damned if I let you fade…” Described as “three songs in the key of loving someone”, this EP manages to showcase a rich depth of emotion in a short span of playtime.
Beginning his songwriting career at seventeen years old, Walton eventually moved from Iowa to Boston for the Berklee College of Music. While in school, Walton found some trustworthy collaborators in CC Ellis, Nick Grout and Matt Daspit. “Without that trust you aren’t as open to trying something different,” explains Walton of their creative process. Since college, a couple of his friends have relocated to Nashville, and in late 2019 Walton joined them to record the EP. All three songs were recorded in one week in a makeshift studio in his friend’s house. In early 2020 Walton dashed his plans for more live shows due to shutdowns from COVID-19, but admits the added free time was beneficial to finishing up the tracks for release. “If we all hadn’t been out of work, I don’t know if we would’ve finished [these songs] in the time that we did.”
Photos by Jayme Ellis
However, these weren’t the only tracks on Walton’s mind throughout 2020. Amidst the many social and racial justice movements happening around the world, inspiration struck from within a dark mindset. In October, Walton released the single “Do Something” after dealing with the traumatic events surrounding people of color last year. “It’s about black people needing to be represented and heard and how black lives do matter. As a black person it’s not something I ever wanted to have to write.” Walton continues, “it was a hard song to write because I had to sit down and process these emotions. I would turn on the TV and see people marching and protesting for their right to live, which is a crazy idea in America that we have to do that.” Moving forward Walton feels a certain level of hopefulness in the country. “I err on the side of hope in general. It’s a lot easier to be hopeful with an administration that is interested in what people who look like me have to say, and are also interested in having people who look like me in the White House.”
Looking ahead now that Fade has been released into the world, Walton is leaving it open for plans of more live streams in the future and has a goal to move out to Nashville by the end of the summer to join his collaborators. Now having refined his jazzy, neo-soul and funk sound he says he has “settled into the style and vibe of music that I want to be making, at least for right now.”
Check out Chris Walton’s new EP Fade below and follow along with this other projects on his Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Spotify!