Saturday, December 15, 2018

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: RODNEY CROWELL - CHRISTMAS EVERYWHERE

You wouldn't expect Rodney Crowell to do a Christmas album that is sentimental and saccharine, and he doesn't disappoint. At times bemused, biting, sad or lovelorn, Crowell calls out the hype and phony ho-ho-ho, and refuses to view the season through holly-coloured glasses. In other words, he approaches it just like a great singer-songwriter should.

Crowell doesn't even sing on the opener, Clement's Lament, but instead lets a couple of angelic voices lull us into a false feeling of Christmas, before hitting us with the payoff, "Peace on Earth, good will to one and all/The season starts in August now, we'll see you in the mall."  His Christmas Everywhere has all the cliches flying in rhyming couplets, a mind-boggling collection of gift hopes from the smallest child (a ball and bat) to the biggest power grabber ("Donald wants to rule the world"), an apt description of Christmas mania. Then there are the songs that look at the dark side, characters pining for great loves lost, Christmas triggering their sad memories. In Merry Christmas From An Empty Bed, the character faces an artificial tree once purchased and left behind by his ex, "The evergreen seems pointless for a tired old fool like me/The fake one more resembles now the man I've come to be."

Happy holiday music it's not, despite some sprightly tunes including When The Fat Guy Tries The Chimney On For Size. This is not for your happy family gatherings. It is however an excellent Rodney Crowell take on Christmas, which is a lot better present than him singing another version of Deck The Halls.

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