‘Sleigher’ must surely be the best title ever for a Christmas album. While it provokes mischievous ideas as to what a festive album by the thrash metal titans might sound like (try to imagine pummelling versions of ‘White Christmas’), Ben Folds’ take on the genre is more traditional but well thought through. It is a record heavy on reflection, memory and the passage of time, a recognition that yuletide can be every bit as much about family tribulation as childhood joy. That is especially apparent in his five smooth and swinging new songs that make up the album alongside two instrumentals and reimagined versions of three standards.
The album starts with the mood-setting piano instrumental, ‘Little Drummer Bolero’ which could be seen as a prelude to what follows, although it does develop a neo-classical grandeur. There follows a charming trio of original songs. ‘Sleepwalking Through Christmas’ has the makings of a standard with its piano, rueful harmonica, laidback vocals and sleigh bells. The details put it in the modern world (“dashing to the loo with my phone”) but it is universal and timeless in its themes of drifting through life in a haze, succumbing to easy lies and how truth is the greatest gift of all.
‘Me and Maurice’ is an emotive ballad decorated with strings and finds Folds in particularly fine voice. In its portrayal of air pump Santas “all face up in their yards / frozen and deflated / hungover and sad”, it captures the tacky elements of Christmas and how it is so often a time of disappointment and thwarted dreams, yet somehow its rituals are irresistible.
‘Christmas Time Rhyme’ is blessed with a chorus and choir that is uplifting in its mood, though its observations are more cautionary (“one drives his mid-life crisis Trans Am / and me in the corner nursing a dram.”) The song marries elements of swinging standards, Nilsson’s ‘Everybody’s Talkin’’, blasts of organ and harmonica, together with the chaos of kinship (“you’re all fuckin’ freaks / but we’re family.”) Side one is bookended by instrumentals, ending with the brief ‘Waiting For Snow’.
Side two commences with a duet ‘We Could Have This’, on which Folds is joined by Lindsey Kraft. It captures the joy and pain of relationships, although its melody and string section are over sweetened and treacly. The ordering of the album is questionable. Having three of the last four songs consisting of covers could suggest that Folds had run out of his own ideas. While he reimagines these standards to an extent, they are faithful enough to the originals to be cosy enough without being astounding. That said, they do slide down as easily as a well-mixed cocktail. Mel Torme and Robert Webb’s ‘The Christmas Song’ is given a laidback jazz guitar, unobtrusive piano backing and a harmonica break while Burt Bacharach’s ‘The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle’ opens with a choir and continues in a frictionlessly smooth fashion. Sandwiched in between the covers is ‘Xmas Aye Eye’ for which R. Bot receives a co-writing credit. It begins with Folds dating it to 26 May, lining up clavinet and drum machine before giving instructions to Artificial Intelligence to help him construct lyrics for a Christmas song. Deliberately, the words sound jumbled and unnatural (“You are the star at the top of my Christmas tree, baby / Making it rhyme every time on Christmas time.”) Rhythmically, it differs from the traditional approach of his other songs, being reminiscent of Paul McCartney’s at the time futuristic outlier, ‘Temporary Secretary’. The album ends amiably with a version of The Mills Brothers’ ‘You Don’t Have To Be A Santa Claus’ which is treated as an infectiously old-fashioned singalong.
In its entirety, ‘Sleigher’ is a mixed package. The three new Folds songs on side one are excellent additions to the pantheon of Christmas songs, ‘Xmas Aye Eye’ is a highly entertaining novelty but while the covers and instrumentals are far from disagreeable, they seem like pleasant padding. It leaves the sense that it would have been more satisfying as a highly selective EP.
Ben Folds: Sleigher – Out now (New West Records)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
