By Collin Kornfeind
It’s hard to pin down a definitive Christmas album, because there are just so many of them – most of them lackluster. However, Sufjan Stevens tries to break out of the simple, cover-classic-songs-of-the-season pile and attempts to find his own voice in the holiday staples with his box set, Songs for Christmas.
Christmas albums are usually trite and difficult to observe critically considering the songs are well-known and the artist did not write them. Such is not the case for Stevens: ranging from Christmas diddies to somber hymns, he actually wrote about a third of the songs in the box set, released as a compilation of the last five years of Stevens’s Christmas “greetings” that he sent out to friends and family as a sort of Christmas card. These “greetings” span from 2001 to 2006 and are each given holiday titles: Noel, Hark!, Ding! Dong!, Joy!, and Peace!
The five-disc box contains about 2 hours of music, which, for Stevens, is slim considering the Illinois album alone has an hour and 12 minutes to indulge in. The longest disc, Peace (2006), is under 36 minutes and the shortest, Noel (2001), being 17 minutes. This set is ideal for a 5-disc CD changer or an iTunes playlist.
Juxtaposing his versions of such well-known songs as “Amazing Grace” and three versions of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” with his own Christmas contributions give freshness and a feeling of verisimilitude to the set. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was made for Stevens’s feathery voice and crisp banjo playing and is reason enough to go out and buy Songs. The piano-guided chorus backing Stevens gives the listener the heavenly feeling of being in the midst of an Advent vigil.
Highlights of Stevens’ original material include the wistful “Sister Winter,” “That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!,” the sprawling yuletide epic “Star of Wonder,” and the endlessly catchy “Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!” Some of his songs should make their way into the canon of holiday music essentials.
What is most fascinating about this album is how, despite being Christian-oriented, it transcends religiosity and draws focus to the lyrical and aural depth of the songs both old and new. Stevens’s 2004 effort Seven Swans exuded similar results, turning songs about the biblical apocalypse into anecdotes about his youth in Michigan. Also, since the “greetings” (and that’s how they seem to be packaged) span from the outset of Stevens’ career, the listener gets a kaleidoscopic crash course through his progression as an artist, from A Sun Came! to the critically lauded Illinois.
As an added holiday bonus, Songs for Christmas comes with stickers, a comic strip, a portrait of the Stevens family, and essays and stories by Stevens and others. Despite the fact that it’s a tad short, Songs makes for the ultimate holiday gift for any music lover and the best Christmas album in recent memory.
4 ½ STARS
