Chris Nole's The Warmth of the Sun is a four-song solo piano EP consisting of Chris' arrangements of favorite tunes by Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. The four songs are "In My Room," "The Warmth of the Sun," "Surfer Girl," and "God Only Knows." (For clarity, Chris Nole's album is not to be confused with Brian Wilson's own solo piano album due out later in November 2021 and titled At My Piano.) These timeless songs were originally released from 1962-1966 and still hold up really well, demonstrating why Brian Wilson is often referred to as a musical genius. A longtime fan of Brian and The Beach Boys, Chris Nole's arrangements are soulful and very beautiful as well as a wonderful tribute to one of the most popular rock bands ever.

The EP begins with "In My Room," one of my own favorite Beach Boys songs. Slow and spare while expressing a dream-like feeling, it's a great arrangement! The title song is a beautiful ballad that Chris plays with deep emotion and grace. "Surfer Girl" as a piano solo? Oh yes! Chris handles those five-part vocal harmonies with his ten fingers with ease and reminds me of why this was one of my favorite songs back then. This arrangement takes the song to a whole new level! The fourth song on the EP is "God Only Knows," a tender love song with heartfelt lyrics and an equally heartfelt melody. Chris keeps it very open and sincere, expressing the meaning of the lyrics without needing any words at all.

Chris has also transcribed all four of the pieces from the album into sheet music. Again, just to be clear, the sheet music is note-for-note transcriptions of Chris' own arrangements of the songs, not the original Beach Boys recordings. I did the proof-reading for these scores, and they are as close to the recordings as possible. I have written a short review of the sheet music, too, available here.

The Warmth of the Sun EP is available from Amazon, Apple Music/iTunes and streaming sites such as Spotify. Very highly recommended!