Hiss Golden Messenger – O Come All Ye Faithful
Merge Records – Out Now
Last Christmas, M.C. Taylor found himself caught in a conundrum; the music of Christmas didn’t reflect his view of the season or the things he was feeling, leading to the birth of Hiss Golden Messenger’s O Come All Ye Faithful. He makes it clear, “Big, brash holiday music—the type that we hear in big-box stores in the middle of December—has never resonated with me, and this past year it felt absolutely dissonant.” The sound was out of step with how he experienced the season, so he sought to create something “quiet, contemplative, searching and bittersweet.”
You won’t find a Christmas bell anywhere on O Come All Ye Faithful, but you will find a collection that deals with the holidays in a most reflective way, with some choices that might be just a bit surprising. “Hung Fire” is a Taylor original beginning with tones of acoustic guitars and a little bit of gallows humour, “St Nick’s at the racetrack/ trying to make it rain with his paycheck.” Leavened by some organ and piano, the chorus says it all, “It’s Christmas, baby/Thank God we made it.” With Aoife O’Donovan on background vocals, the song hits all the right notes.
Sounding less like a traditional carol and more like a Hiss Golden Messenger number, “O Come All Ye Faithful” rides in on a wave of piano and soft guitar. Even when a chorus of female voices enters, the sound is less like the triumphant rush we may receive in church and more like a moment of contemplation in the woods. By the time Spiritualized’s Shine a Light comes on, there is no longer any frame of reference that makes sense. Yet what Taylor does with the song is nothing less than perfect; some incredibly beautiful saxophone only adds to this piece that one would have never anticipated. This is actually part of what makes this collection so special; everything ends up sounding like it was written by Hiss Golden Messenger.
“Silent Night” feels like it has been radically reworked, making it feel like a completely different song. Woody Guthrie’s “Hanukkah Dance” works well, dressed up with fiddle. The song was put on the album because Taylor’s wife is Jewish, and his kids have been brought up in that faith. It feels right within the context of the collection as a whole. Occupying the final space on the album is John Fogerty’s “As Long As I Can See The Light,” which features a bluesy piano solo. While there is nothing particularly Christmassy about the song, it fits perfectly to close off this set.
For the particularly adventurous, some vinyl versions of the album come with a dub reinterpretation, The Sounding Joy: Hiss Golden Messenger Meets Revelators on South Robinson Street. Along with Spacebomb Records’ Cameron Ralston, Taylor reassembled several of the tracks as dub spirituals. Going a long way to explaining just how restless Taylor was during the lockdown, it also illustrates the creative impulse that allows Hiss Golden Messenger to dance to his own beat.
On its own, O Come All Ye Faithful allows listeners an opportunity to reflect on the holiday season. For Hiss Golden Messenger, the last month of the year is a time of the world closing up as we await the rebirth of spring. These songs fit the season, highlighting a way forward.
Photo Credit: Chris Frisina