The brainchild of Ryan Gadaleta and Joe Farrell, “STOP” is your new favorite indie album!

I write this with as minimal bias as possible, as I have close personal ties to the band, but “STOP” is genuinely refreshing and an obvious showcase of local Philly talent. The album is the result of Gadaleta and Farrell’s capstone project for their Sound Recording and Music Technology degrees, meaning that not only are they the musicians on the tracks, but they also completely recorded, mixed and mastered the music themselves. I know what you might be thinking about small, self-produced artists, but let me put your worries at ease when I say this mixing is as high quality as it gets. 

The album features Gadaleta’s vocals and some guitar and bass, Farrell on the piano, synth and bass, Thomas Pennise III on lead guitar, and Eric Peterson on drums and percussion. It also includes Kierra Curnyn’s backup vocals and Anna Durning on the violin, and all of these talented young artists are local to the Philly area! 

My personal favorite song on the album is “Box TV,” because it has a beautiful fade in from the song before it, “STOP,” so be sure to listen to the album in order! There are more upbeat songs like “Stay Awhile” and slower ones like “Nashville,” so there is something for everyone on this track. There are also some revamped versions off their first EP with a great new take on the song “Daydream.” The total runtime is just over 25 minutes, and I promise it will have you wanting more.

The album art by Kalina Witkowska features four little dudes, all drawn by each member of the band: Gadaleta as the cat, Peterson as the mouse, Pennise as the fish, and Farrell as the little crab thing. The designs feature hints at the tracks included on the album.

“STOP” by Ryan Gads and His Very Talented Friends was released on all platforms on Sept. 29. You can find it anywhere under the name of Ryan Gads.