The common thread through engineer and producer Chris Bell’s projects is top-to-bottom soulfulness, spanning his work in R&B, Americana and rock. Whether he’s stirring the slow-burning sensuality of Erykah Badu on “The Healer”, helping Don Henley and Merle Haggard find common ground on the earthy ballad “The Cost of Living” or marrying Peter Gabriel’s heady art rock to The Polyphonic Spree’s orchestral pop on “More Than This”, Bell makes every track feel as if it grew straight up from the ground.