Christmas Songs Vol. 1＜Red Vinyl＞

Holiday albums are often a mixed bag (er, stocking?), either working as a sure-fire sales gimmick, or saddling artists with well-worn songs rife with saccharine sentimentality. With their first holiday-themed album, Christmas Songs, Vol. 1, Georgias Manchester Orchestra defy the latter pitfall, delivering a hushed and dusky EP of yuletide standards that retain all of the epic emotionality of their original work. Initially released online in 2020 (with proceeds going to help the Georgia-based homeless shelter Atlanta Mission) and re-released the following year as a physical LP, Christmas Songs, Vol. 1 features a mix of classic holiday favorites and traditional songs including Silent Night, White Christmas, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. If theres any hook or gimmick here, its Manchester Orchestras ability to make even the most light-hearted and merry song sound sad. Rather than a brisk sleigh-ride, these are slow-burn performances, pitched at the speed of trudging through deep snow on a moonlit evening. The album has the feel of a bundled-up Christmas Eve performance at a candle-lit church service as singer Andy Hull commands your attention with his yearning tenor croon. Smartly, the group also strip their sound to its bare, chamber-group essence, framing Hull in woody basslines, brassy percussion, and echoey, tube-amp guitar lines. If youve always thought there was something melancholy and ruminative about the holiday season, Manchester Orchestras Christmas Songs, Vol. 1 might be the album to match your mood. ~ Matt Collar