I can't believe it's
been six years since Sufjan Stevens released his collection of
Christmas EPs called Songs For Christmas. I reviewed it a
couple of years ago and found it to be one of the most diverse,
encompassing, and even interactive Christmas albums. In a time where
buying CDs is not really the norm, it was a package that was well
worth picking up. And this year, seemingly out of nowhere, Sufjan
announces a follow-up of five more Christmas EPs made over the last
six years in a collection called Silver & Gold.
Unfortunately, I can't discuss the physical contents of the album too
much because I was only able to afford the digital copy this year,
but all the music is there and that's the main feature of the album.
The fact that there is more than that is really just a bonus to make
it worth the investment of the physical purchase.
One thing I noticed
right away about this album is that it starts to really reflect a
departure from the format of the earlier Songs For Christmas as far
as appearance goes. The first disc art is reflective of it, but by
the second one, it starts to get a lot more diverse and eccentric in
its art style. I can't say I'm too surprised considering the radical
departure that Sufjan would take musically between Come on Feel
the Illinoise and Age of Adz. One can't expect the same
sort of output from one year to the next when an artist grows
musically and personally.
Disc 1: Gloria
Like many of the
previous discs from the last collection, there is a mix of original
and classic material. It opens with a rendition of “Silent Night”
which doesn't seem too adventurous at first, but it certainly
transforms into something strange. Well, basically they play it with
a theremin at the end and I don't think that song has ever been
played with that instrument before. Apart from that, Stevens doesn't
depart too much from what we have come to expect from his Christmas
albums. His sound is diverse and playful and Christmas songs
translate well into that style. It seems that this one was very much
a collaborative effort as Aaron and Bryce Dessner, two founding
members of alternative rock band The National, have co-writing credit
on four of the songs.
The highlights of this
collection is "Lumberjack Christmas / No One Can Save You From
Christmases Past" which is goofy, fun, and has a country twist,
which is a precarious line to be walking, but somehow they pull it
off. Also, there is the beautiful and tender "Carol Of St.
Benjamin The Bearded One" which works as well as it does because
of the poetic lyrics and Sufjan's singing. The cover songs for the
most part are quite unusual choices, as he redoes really old British
folk songs instead of the typical Christmas fare.
Disc 2: I Am Santa's
Helper
This is a big change of
pace in that out of all of the discs, this is the only one that is
big enough to be a full LP. It has 23 songs, and while many of them
are quite short, it is still over 40 minutes of material. It seems
like most of these songs are smaller ideas that were collected
together in an attempt to make a bigger better whole. I think it
worked for the most part. The smaller and more simple songs make for
much more raw material, which is a departure from Stevens' typical
well polished and intricate songs. He also continues to cover really
old folk songs, like he did in the last disc. Perhaps he felt that
he played the other more typical holiday songs to death in the last
collection. Sometimes though, I must confess that I wish some of
these songs were a little more finished sounding, but I guess this
time he went for quantity over quality and I suppose that's okay.
The winner of this
collection for sure is “Christmas Woman” the longest song on here
by a lot and, as such, the most developed. It is a pleasant mix of
synthesized music and classic instrumentation and is overall just a
really great song. It's also great hearing short musical solos of
original music from Sufjan, such as “Mysteries of the Christmas
Mist,” a primarily piano piece that wanders and explores some
simple ideas, while sounding grand in delivery. And I don't know what
is going on in "Eternal Happiness Or Woe," but it sure is
fascinating.
Disc 3: Christmas
Infinity Voyage
And as the cover art
might suggest, Sufjan takes some radical turns in Christmas
Infinity Voyage. If you look at what kind of music he was make at
the time of this EP's creation, it makes a little bit of sense
though. This was likely around the same time as the inception of Age
of Adz, his still most recent studio album. And he changed quite
a bit musically for that album and that is reflected in the music in
here. It doesn't start off too different from most of his previous
work as it opens with an expanded adaptation of “Angels We Have
Heard On High” which eases us into some of the sounds we'll come to
hear throughout. By the next track, we are thrust into a full
electronic rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear” complete with
glitchy beats and beeps and blips.
Actually, though this
is only 9 tracks long, it has a longer run time than the last disc
because it ends in the fifteen minute long “The Child with the Star
on His Head.” That song is really hard to wrap your head around
because it goes through a lot of different movements and some of them
work better than others. It's one of his most experimental songs I've
heard, that much can be said for sure, so he gets points for
ambition. The most successful track on this one is the smart and
deep “Christmas in the Room.” It really hits the mark because it
most seamlessly integrates the different sounds of Sufjan's music,
blending the heavy synthesizers with the calm guitar plucking.
Disc 4: Let It Snow
He brings the music a
little closer to home with Let It Snow, which I am thankful
for. Not to say that I didn't like the music on the last disc, but it
sure was hard to take in at first. What makes this one unique is that
Sufjan takes a back seat to a couple of the songs to let singer and
song writer Cat Martino take the vocals for two tracks, one of which
she wrote the music and lyrics for herself. There are a lot more of
the popular classic Christmas songs on this one and only one single
original song written by Sufjan, but his renditions are quite good
and creative, often mixing some of his electronic sounds with the
more traditional music that he does.
The highlights of the
disc are first the song that Stevens writes, “X-Mas Spirit Catcher”
which has fun with a jolly, festive sounding piano and jingle bells.
Second is “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” which is a
surprisingly dark sounding version of the song, which usually sounds
so jolly.
Disc 5: Christmas
Unicorn
It seems by this point
Stevens has figured out the best way to integrate his love for
electronic music in with his more traditional style. It takes a back
seat for the most part and is used to accentuate moments that might
otherwise not have the same impact. It actually sounds really good.
It's a little more scaled back and seems to have a bit of a theme to
it, which I haven't really caught in any of the other discs, at least
not lyrically. In some of the original songs as well as the darker
cover songs, it seems to portray a disenchanted vision of Christmas.
"Justice Delivers Its Death" is the most dark and deep
Christmas song I've ever heard, as it builds on the classic song
“Silver and Gold” and takes it in a completely different
direction. It's a sobering and sad song and well worth listening to.
The best tracks are “Up
On The Housetop” which is a surprisingly dramatic version of the
old song about Santa's journey. It's a complete re-imagining of the
song and it works way better than I would have imagined. And of
course there is the title track, which was the promotional song for
when the whole collection was put up for presale. It was the ideal
way to finish everything off as it is an epic twelve and a half
minutes in length and again, seems to properly mix the best of
Sufjan's musical styles. I think the lyrics are clever and often
truthful and... I just like the image of a Christmas Unicorn. At
first it seems comical, but if you think about what the symbolism is,
it's not as funny. Perhaps what the “Christmas Unicorn” is
supposed to be is the myths of Christmas in a physical form.
Musically the song takes a few interesting turns, including mixing in
a portion of Joy Division's classic new wave song “Love Will Tear
Us Apart” which I did not see coming. Can't complain though. That
song is awesome.
Silver & Gold
is a bit of a different experience than the previous Songs For
Christmas. While in that one you hear the natural progression of
Sufjan Stevens' music, in this one you hear the huge leaps he took
from one year to another. Sufjan has really become kind of a strange
guy, at least it feels that way through his music. Perhaps he got a
little caught up in his eccentricities and has gone a little crazy.
Or maybe he was always kind of crazy. I mean, I can't argue with the
results though. Crazy and brilliant don't really contradict one
another. It can be a little jarring at times, but musically it is
still quite pleasing. And I'm glad he's kept up this tradition. It
is by far one of the best Christmas music purchases you could make.
It's over two and a half hours of music and even the digital copy
comes with some art work to admire. It might be a little too much
Christmas music to play this back to back with the previous Songs
For Christmas collection, but if you space it out, Silver &
Gold is definitely worth it.
5 Stars
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