“A tour de force of inventive brilliance, mysterious inspirations and a general openness to whatever crosses his fervent mind.”

“New Store No. 2, and it was a thing of sophistication, of deep feeling, remarkably perceptive, and featuring very moving lyrics. Maxwell sits right in a spot where the most important rock and roll songwriting of the last generation has sat, where you might find Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, or Joanna Newsom, with sparkling melodies, complex harmonies, a hint of jazz and soul, and then these rather huge sentiments: loss, grief, remorse, the need for growth, the requirements for survival.”

“... showcasing wondrously diverse and complex arranging and songwriting brilliance.”

“Powerful in its restraint, melodic, emotionally deep.”

“...a harmonic vocabulary that is anything but conventional, a habit of distressing the fringes of even the sweetest ballads with electro angst and fritz and a network of deep symbols that the rest of the album will invoke as its stories, themes and obsessions accrete. ”

“...melodious, artfully made CD manages to deliver music that is as satisfying as it is sad.”

“This record feels entirely epic, a journey you come out of changed…Hear this part well: At my age (and we’ll leave it at that), and after all this, the man is doing what is not just the best work of his career, but really, the best work of almost anyone’s career.”

“…surprisingly inventive, soulful …a great record.”

“But you need to hear Arkansas native Chris Maxwell’s new record, New Store No. 2. Really listen…It’s great production applied to excellent songwriting... ambitious and remarkable….Chris Maxwell is an artist of the first order.”

“…masterful Baroque Americana...It’s a deftly crafted, multidimensional and musically stunning autobiographical journey called Arkansas Summer....You can enjoy Arkansas Summer is an autobiographical linked narrative of sorts, or just as a really keen collection of expansive roots/pop gems that might give Wilco a little kick in the pants, many of which are going to sound simply awesome on WFUV. It’s really a masterpiece either way.”

“Maxwell’s writing is strong and supremely confident, but it’s his unerring taste in sonic sculpture that elevates Arkansas Summer to the top echelon of American pop. It’s a mature and beautiful work of art from an extraordinarily talented artist....
But it’s also gorgeous and heart-crushing, and certainly one of the best “albums” - if you define album as a coherent collection of songs that are thematically consistent and resonate with one another - of the past two years.”

“Chris Maxwell musically channels the heart of Americana-pop — Big Star, Freedy Johnston, Wilco and the like — in crafting a song-cycle as personal as home movies with X-rays included. A beautifully poised grown-up album in an age that still coughs one up from time to time.”

“Arkansas Summer’ is a great sounding record, @chrisamaxwell! Thanks for getting it to me. It’s a real treat, man.”

“...vivid, touching and funny lyrics...literate pop.”

“Arkansas Summer by Chris Maxwell. After years of doing production work for Iggy Pop, They Might Be Giants, several indie bands and for TV shows such as Bob’s Burgers and Inside Amy Schumer, Chris Maxwell finally steps out on his own with this stellar debut solo album. Combining Beatlesque sensibilities with Americana, the album has everything from introspective ballads to foot stomping roots rockers. Vocally, Maxwell channels John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band period and the production quickly moves from sparse to lush, sometimes within the same song. An outstanding debut album. Arkansas Summer is available now through Amazon, Itunes and all major music retailers.”

“Maxwell shows such an artful sense of economy with the lyrics that one easily imagines stone silence coming over an audience if he simply read them aloud as a poem.”

“If the album feels like winding, compelling journey for the listener, it’s because this is exactly what shaped Maxwell’s ability to make the album. From start to finish, Arkansas Summer is the work of someone who has earned his credibility, his influence, and his wisdom.”