Indie-rocker Sufjan Stevens does a brilliant job convincing music fans that not all modern Christmas songs have to suck. A much needed change from female vocalists whining to Santa Claus to bring them a boyfriend, Songs for Christmas is a collection of five years worth of Christmas EPs offering a mixture of Steven's renditions of classic carols along with his cleverly observant originals.
All 42 tracks reflect Stevens' characteristic style that can be found on his normal albums, such as Illinoise and The Avalanche. This means that while this is by no means a party album, it would be ideal for listening to while curled up next to the fire with a warm drink.
Most of the album is comprised of traditional carols such as ""Silent Night,"" ""What Child is This?"" and ""I Saw Three Ships."" The renditions Stevens offers are pleasant to listen to and do not vary greatly from what you would expect out of the classic carols. Stevens has a calming voice and style of music, and it is comforting to hear the familiar carols done in this way.
Stevens really shines while he reveals his almost childlike innocence and enthusiasm for Christmas with his original tracks.
Along with the traditional songs stemming from Stevens' Christian beliefs, he supplies a number of thoughtful originals. Starting in 2001, Stevens began recording Christmas songs, although originally just for his friends and family.
Stevens shares his own Christmas experiences with tracks such as these, and the album is worth your perusal based on these songs alone, ""We're Goin' to the Country!"" in particular. One of his newer songs, ""Get Behind Me, Santa!"" is a unique take on Christmas with Stevens referring to Santa Claus as a ""bad brother"" who breaks into people's garages.
Stevens also seems to be somewhat of a musical packrat, and although there is a great deal of originality in this project, his decision to record more that one version of particular songs is unfortunate. ""O Come O Come Emmanuel"" actually appears on the album three times, and while the tracks are decidedly different from each other, it is not necessary to include each version, as 38 songs would have been more than sufficient to complete this endeavor.
However, aside from the repetitiveness, this album is truly something special. It is the kind of music you will only want to share with the people you love and is definitely worth adding to your loved ones' Christmas collection.
