Christmas Underground

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

We all have some bands where you can simply buy their releases, completely unheard. Those folks who have proven themselves, over and over, to have the talent and taste to earn your trust. For this bloviator of alternative Christmas music, Winterval, the home recording project of Duncan Baird, is most certainly in that category. This new album, his third-holiday release, Sad Christmas Songs, is a warm, beautifully produced collection of original Christmas songs. There is some incredibly clever songwriting here, most obviously expressed in the inspired title track, “Sad Christmas Songs,” which namechecks a host of classic Christmas songs throughout the “alone at Christmas” motif. The way he weaves them all in – it is just brilliant. I’m struggling to not post the whole song here – but here is a healthy chunk to see what I’m talking about:

Hey baby where did this go wrong?
Last Christmas we were something strong
Another silent night alone
Sat here singing sad Christmas songs

The cavalry have stopped,
Santa’s got the blues
I’m the boy that he forgot,
what do the lonely do?

It’s a Christmas all alone
In the bleak midwinter snow
Turn around and please come home

Hey baby where’s the magic gone
I walked 2000 miles along
A winter fairytale gone wrong
Sat here singing sad Christmas songs

There are about 10 songs worked in there and even more throughout! It was so damn fun to realize what was going on… which I am a bit sheepish to say didn’t happen until the second listen. Absolutely one of the most clever songs I’ve heard this season.

So, the album is called Sad Christmas Songs, and if you want to get into the dictionary meaning of each word… this does make some sense. The title track for sure, despite the fact that you might enjoy the lyrics too much to be caught up in the “Sat here singing sad Christmas songs” of it all. Take a peek at the following song, “Christmas Without You,” and you may very well get more comfortable stating these songs are specifically sad. But listen to the music, and that synthpop-meets-the-Clientele orchestration will get you tapping your feet far too much to feel down. It is rather like those Swedish indiepop songs I love – pretty little pop songs about sadness that make you smile.

Finally, I must mention the closing track, “Making Christmas.” These people are trying so hard to be together, complications at every turn, until they realize “Suddenly, we both know, where we are, we’re making Christmas / Finally, even though, we’re apart, we’re making Christmas.” Throw in this gorgeous, swelling orchestration, and you are playing with my emotions here.

I am only highlighting a few tracks here, but know that there is magic in every song. From the wonderful storytelling of “Krampus,” to “Times Square Elmo,” which is surprisingly funny, and sweet, but also full of longing, this record is a little bit of everything. Truly one of the best albums of the year.

Bottom Line: Sitting here listening to this record… all I can think about is how much I’d love to be sitting in a cozy venue, some Christmas lights hung about, listening to Duncan play these songs. I’ve got a glass of whiskey, and it is the good stuff because Winterval is top shelf in my house.

LISTEN