Solar (Album)
Solar
Running the gamut from hard-hitting rockers to slow, melodic jams, Chris Urriola’s Solar is an album defined by dynamic contrast. Across ten tracks, Urriola shifts seamlessly between loud and soft, fast and slow, using changes in pace and volume to guide the listener through a cohesive emotional journey.
Songs like “Superman” and “Song 1 (We’re Not Going Home)” deliver driving, high-energy intensity, while tracks such as “Royalton” and “Invincible” pull inward, favoring melody, restraint, and atmosphere. Surf rock, new wave, punk, and synth-pop influences surface throughout, yet the album remains unified by Urriola’s steady vocal presence and narrative sensibility.
What makes Solar especially compelling is its command of dynamics as a storytelling tool. Rather than relying on genre alone, Urriola uses contrast and momentum to keep the listener engaged through to the final, explosive moments of “Fast.”
Released June 27, 2025 Bandcamp: https://chrisurriola.bandcamp.com/album/solar
Elemental EP
The songs on Chris Urriola’s Elemental EP find their presence within the natural elements: earth, water, fire, air. While reflecting them separately, they also reflect the interconnectedness of the elements and, in turn, life.
“Adom,” with its smooth, heavy guitar and bass parts, has an earthiness to it that reflects well on its title’s allusion to the biblical Adam “made from the earth.” “Bop” has a hot, jangli-ness to it that, while not blazing, has the slow burn of fire. “Hale” is even more fiery with its pointed lyrics and powerful, energetic melody. “Radialhead” ebbs and flows like the ocean’s tides. “You Want It All” has a mix of electric and acoustic guitars that give off an uplifting 90’s Brit-pop love song vibe and a big breath of fresh air.
But as individualized as they are, the elements mix, the same way life isn’t just one thing. Earth needs air. “Adom” has this earthy, dark feeling, but you also feel the air swirling the dirt and leaves around. Fire gets doused by water and sparked by air. The fire of “Bop” gives way to “Radialhead’s” ocean vibe, only for a new spark of flames to be fanned going into “Hale.”
Elemental truly lives up to its name, as these five songs evoke the natural elements in their lyricism, melody and instrumentation. At once solitary, the elements combine to make up us and the world we know. With these songs, Urriola reflects the intertwining elements in the same way to great effect.
Released November 10, 2023 Bandcamp: https://chrisurriola.bandcamp.com/album/elemental
Illustrator EP
On his Illustrator EP, Chris Urriola adeptly conveys how cyclical life and love can be. Each song is connected, fading from one into another into another, then coming back to the beginning and starting anew.
As a whole, the EP follows the story of a love that wasn’t meant to be. Introductory track “Cintro” is a big bright beginning, highlighting new love and its sweeping, joyous feeling. By “Oh No,” that lofty emotion comes down. The love is still there, but that newness has worn off and the tone is now haunting and dark. That darkness fades into the melancholy of “I Miss You,” highlighting the fresh feeling of sadness after the break-up. They’re gone and the narrator is inconsolable. “On” finds new hope. The melancholy lifts and you realize that life goes on. Both sides are better off. That new hope found on “On” then translates itself back into the brightness of “Cintro.”
It’s not just the melodies but the lyrics that also flow from song to song. “Cintro” and “On” both use phrases like “I wanna take you home” and “You want to be free/You want to go home” to convey new love and letting go. “Cintro” and “Oh No” share some of the same lyrics but at vastly different tempos. The narrator still “doesn’t care what you say,” but it seems more worn down on “Oh No,” like you believe the words less.
Within these four tracks, the Illustrator EP follows the cyclical nature of relationships. Between melodic shifts, lyrical repetition and recurring themes, Urriola is able to tell an effective story of love, loss and hope.
Released July 7, 2023 Bandcamp: https://chrisurriola.bandcamp.com/album/illustrator-ep