“If I ever make a Christmas album, shoot me.” So said English folk titan Eliza Carthy to Jon Wilks back in 2021. Well, we won’t obey those wishes because Glad Christmas Comes, a super-folk collaboration with Bellowhead’s Jon Boden, is a big bundle of unadulterated joy that neatly balances the tinsel-draped unashamedly fun atmosphere of the festive period with splendid musicianship and discerning song choices.
Although available in digital as well as vinyl and CD, the physical packages contain generous, fun and extensive notes on each song and the project as a whole and really tie this whole wonderfully festive, warm-hearted and indulgent project together. At sixteen songs and over an hour in length, it is, appropriately, like a big Christmas lunch that you won’t want to finish. Beautiful music from two of our very finest and most valuable artists currently working; Glad Christmas Comes is a very easy album to love.
The songs start warmly, with a lovely version of the sixteenth-century song Ashen Bowl, a celebratory piece (first line ‘A wassail, a wassail’ meaning good health or fortune) encapsulating the good cheer of the period. A minimal concertina and fiddle accompaniment frames Eliza and Jon’s bright vocals, giving the words plenty of room to soar and evoking an old environment akin to an inn or campfire.
Further on, Beautiful Star is, well, beautiful. A simple accordion frames Eliza Carthy’s big, bright and clear voice, with Jon Boden, Emily Portman and Tim van Eyken providing rich backing vocals. This incredibly optimistic carol was written back in 1938 by Adger M Pace and R Fisher Boyce and chosen for this album by Eliza’s late mother, the great Norma Waterson. The loaded emotion behind the importance of this tune can be heard in each voice and musical note.
Elsewhere, things get very playful, with songs like the Boden-led Good Doctor throwing brass and strings at a super festive tune and some wonderfully broad singing by Jon, with Eliza backing him. This Boden original from 2012 is inspired by the theatre but also plays out as a fun-packed English folk tale, with Prince George and the dragon featuring along with quack doctors (bringing to mind Chris Wood’s England in Ribbons). This song just about epitomises the fun and frolics of the Christmas period and it sounds like a load of fun performing it.
Speaking of fun, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is about as fun and silly as it gets… Or is it? Written by John Rox in 1953, this is actually a protest song commenting on the commercialism of Christmas and the disregard for the health of the natural world to feed our greed. It is thickly veiled, however, so it sits well within this set while still maintaining its important and ever-relevant message. The arrangement is ace too, with concertina and trombone providing an initial jaunty tune, which a full brass band spends the last minute fleshing out in a traditional, New Orleans perambulating jazz style.
Towards the album’s end is a version of Fairytale of New York with bells on. A buoyant intro of fiddle and concertina makes leisurely progress until Jon and Eliza’s vocals begin to a spare concertina backing. It’s a tricky task to take on such a beloved (possibly the most cherished) Christmas song, with memorable vocals from Shane MacGowan, who sadly passed away yesterday, and Kirsty MacColl, but this duo do it proud. While keeping the dry wit of the original (‘You cheap lying bastard’ is especially well delivered by Eliza), this take is unafraid to up the romance present in the piece and the sense of melancholy (‘I could have been someone / Well so could anyone’ being particularly effective) is dealt with quite beautifully. Bravo.
What a splendidly generous and rich recording this is. If you’re going to make a Christmas album, make it big and heartfelt and lock in that festive spirit. Glad Christmas Comes does just that, but it also makes pains to include great songs and excellent musicianship, hardly surprising when considering the players present. I strongly suggest treating somebody to this wonderful album and getting it for yourself – then playing it repeatedly throughout December.
What a splendidly generous and rich recording this is. If you’re going to make a Christmas album, make it big and heartfelt and lock in that festive spirit. Glad Christmas Comes does just that, but it also makes pains to include great songs and excellent musicianship, hardly surprising when considering the players present. I strongly suggest treating somebody to this wonderful album and getting it for yourself and playing it on repeat throughout December.
What a splendidly generous and rich recording this is. If you’re going to make a Christmas album, make it big and heartfelt and lock in that festive spirit. Glad Christmas Comes does just that, but it also makes pains to include great songs and excellent musicianship, hardly surprising when considering the players present. I strongly suggest treating somebody to this wonderful album and getting it for yourself – then playing it on repeat throughout December.
What a splendidly generous and rich recording this is. If you’re going to make a Christmas album, make it big and heartfelt and lock in that festive spirit. Glad Christmas Comes does just that, but it also makes pains to include great songs and excellent musicianship, hardly surprising when considering the players present. I strongly suggest treating somebody to this wonderful album and getting it for yourself – then playing it on repeat throughout December.
Glad Christmas Comes is out now on Hudson Records –https://hudsonrecords.ffm.to/gladchristmascomes
Upcoming Tour Dates
7/12 Brewery Arts, Kendal
8/12 Stoller Hall, Manchester
9/12 Philharmonic, Liverpool
10/12 Pavilion Theatre, Whitby
11/12 Halifax Minster, Halifax
12/12 Cadogan Hall, London
21/12 The Fire Station, Sunderland
22/12 Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh