Oh Holy Night – Vanessa Peters
So it’s still only October, but who says that’s too early to post a little bit of Christmas music? The excuse is a some new songs from HWHW favorite Vanessa Peters. Her last record was an absolute gem, one of my favorites of 2009. And she has a new one coming out next year, which I’m quite excited about. In the meantime, she’s tiding us over with an album of Christmas favorites: The Christmas We Hoped For.
It’s got some of your absolute standards (a beautiful version of “White Christmas,” a dulcet “Christmas Song,” and so on), combined a few more modern tracks. One highlight on the latter front is “All That I Want” from The Weepies, which accomplishes the goal of being a good song, with the holidays merely serving as an undertone.
Still, the two real standout tracks for me are the most traditional. First is the “What Child Is This” medley, which blends together the main theme with elements from “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “We Three Kings” – all three of which are among the most powerful of the classic Christmas songs.
Second is “Oh Holy Night,” which is ushered in with the tinkling of sleigh bells, but builds toward a monumental crescendo by the end. Performers always run a risk doing versions of this song. It doesn’t lend itself to halfway measures; you’re looking for something fervent, not just something pretty. Peters absolutely delivers, mostly by recognizing that her voice is not well-suited to the task of conveying that kind of passion, and letting the music itself perform the crashing of the wave.
That’s a general theme on the record. In some ways, it’s a little strange to hear Christmas songs coming from someone I so completely associate with a warm voice and music perfectly suited for long summer days. But it works, mostly because she keeps a low key. This is not the sort of Christmas records meant to offer some virtuoso a vehicle to convey their talents; it’s simply someone playing the songs she happens to like, and doing so with the appropriate amount of joy. Even the cases where she makes a significant change, it’s always toward mellowing out. You can really see this on “All I Want for Christmas is You” – a song that normally drives me up the wall. In this case, it’s re-imagined as a gentle acoustic ballad, and is very pleasant.