Christmas is coming ..... a remarkable collection of Christmas songs to cope the end-of-the-year-lockdown-blues
From feudal oldies to newer holiday pop canon, A very chilly christmas has grandeur and solemnity, an original featuring Feist and covers featuring Jarvis Cocker. And, of course, there’s Mariah Carey.
A Very Chilly Christmas is a collection of 16 Christmas tunes, the titles of 15 of which will be familiar but the presentation of which will be surprising, fascinating, enlivening and occasionally highly amusing to all. For a start, the songs, even such traditionally ‘jolly’ selections such as Last Christmas and All I Want For Christmas Is You are all delivered in a minor key and slow tempo. The vast majority are solo piano pieces (although the cello contributions of Stella Le Page on several tracks add extra warmth and depth to an album that already copiously claims those qualities) and when Jarvis or Feist add their vocal contributions, the quirkiness is complete.
It all adds up to an album that can be enjoyed on at least three levels. Either as a straight and highly tasteful rendering of a set of Christmas tunes that would provide the perfect soundtrack to a quiet Christmas night by the fireside, mulled wine in hand; a curio that challenges the listener to wonder whether Chilly is having a good laugh at our expense, or as an enjoyable exploration of the musical possibilities offered by such familiar tunes. It’s not an album for the raucous party (perhaps a good thing, in a year when such things will be a distinct rarity) but it’s certainly a wonderful accompaniment to mellow, wine-assisted Christmas reverie. And, despite the concept and the contents, cheesiness is deftly and definitely avoided!
Nearly all the tunes are either traditional Christmas fare. Carols such as Silent Night, Good King Wenceslas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (to give just a few examples), Christmas standards such as Jingle Bells and Xmas Kiss, or covers latter day popular hits – Snow Is Falling In Manhattan and the aforementioned Last Christmas and All I Want For Christmas is You. The only exception is the original composition The Banister Bough; a beautiful (if excessively sweetened) duet with long-time collaborator Feist, who delivers her vocal part with both frailty and commitment that successfully captures and bottles the Christmas vibe.
