Review Summary: highly necessary
Does the world need more Christmas music? Does the world need more jams to accompany dinner table fights between Problematic Uncle Robert and the rest of the family as atheists and non-atheists alike attempt to celebrate the birth of an arguably mildly relevant baby with lots of alcohol? Sure, the answer I’m hinting at aligning with may be a ‘no’, but let’s not take my word for it. Instead, we can turn to John Andrew Hull, frequently featured artist on many songs by many musicians as well as Manchester Orchestra’s vocalist. On his band’s brand new Christmas album,
Christmas Songs Vol. 1, he lends his voice to renditions of six classic and traditional XMAS-szn-Bangers. Great, it’s a cover album. Why would the world need another set of covers of some of the most covered songs in the history of cover songs?
..to give bearded dads around the globe something to put on at the Christmas dinner, perhaps? Fine, it’s a tired line of reasoning to imply that a cover album inherently negates a
need for its existence, so let’s dive a little deeper. Manchester Orchestra sound great throughout
Christmas Songs. Every gentle strum constructs the calmly festive atmosphere; muted drums linger in the background, affording the record a pleasant sense of cohesion. Hull’s voice is as pristine as always… but isn’t that a bit
odd? Here, he sounds precisely as fragile and emotional as he did on songs discussing deeply personal issues. There is approximately no difference in intonation and delivery between “
To hear the sleigh bells in the snow, oh oh oh” on ‘White Christmas’ and ‘The Maze’s “
You don’t have to wander to hear when I speak / There is nothing I’ve got when I die that I keep”. It’s as much a testament to the vocalist’s capabilities as it is an issue that can make some of the band’s past work feel ever so slightly more disingenuous. I’m not implying that Hull cares about sleigh bells and his daughter in equal measures, but rather that there is absolutely no need for this record to exist: its detriment to the band’s previous works outweighs its more favourable nature of not-bad Christmas music to expose your family to.
Thankfully,
Christmas Songs is easy to overlook. While the ‘Vol. 1’ feels like a bit of a threat, it’s not a terrible album by any means: it’s merely a collection of covers I wish didn’t exist. If the world needs more Christmas music, this is simultaneously a reaffirmation of my belief that it doesn’t as well as the closest anything has ever come to convincing me otherwise (except for Kevin Bloody Wilson’s work, I guess). MerryveryearlyChristmas, thanks to Manchester Orchestra releasing this thing in October.
