Seasonal albums tend to have a certain sentimentality about them that reflects the traditional view of Christmas as a time good cheer, family fun and soft-focus TV ads. So, when it appeared 10 years ago ‘Wild Winter’ was like a blast of cold air coming down the chimney with a bleaker vision of the season.
It is in reality a winter as much as a Christmas record, opening with the phased guitar and distant vocals of ‘Christmas Without A Kiss’ and its brilliant verse: “Always want what I can’t have. And this year, it’s the same. I don’t have the one I love. I want snow, I get rain.” I doubt I’m the first to see this as the anti ’Last Christmas.’ The reworking of Captain Beefheart’s ‘Steal Softly Thru Snow.’ is one of the best showcases for Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies’ gorgeous harmonies. They manage to integrate those harmonies without losing any of the Beefheart-ness of the song. There is another cover towards the end of the album. The Handsome Family’s ‘So Much Wine.’ A sparse arrangement that brings to mind a winter forest, all bare trees and silence.
They manage to bring an introspection to some of the most cherished parts of Christmas. In ‘Circles In The Snow‘ they observe, “All the lights, driving back on Christmas Eve. For once we feel like we’ve got everything we need. We try to live in cities that we can’t afford. So take me back to where all our ideas were born.” With a sensitive guitar solo over the pounding drum part which seems to be trying to drown out the feeling that Christmas should be so much more than it is. If we are seeing this as the antidote to regular Christmas albums, then ‘Circles In The Snow‘ might be the remedy to Chris Rea’s ‘Driving Home for Christmas.‘
‘Bad Good’ is an indie rock anthem for Santa’s grotto, and ‘Give And Receive’ takes a wry look at the people who show up to Christmas Carol services. “For one night a year you will find us here.” The title song wafts along on a bass line that sticks in your head long after it’s over.
The album drifts to a close with ‘So Much Wine.’ and ‘All Up In The Air.’ The latter builds through another haunting guitar solo until it just seems to run out rather than end, a feeling that may reflect many people’s Christmas’s. Blamire and Davies say “We have a love / hate relationship with winter and the Christmas holiday. Sometimes winter provides us with a sense of togetherness and love and sometimes it leaves us feeling alienated, cold and playing a glockenspiel alone in a darkened room.”
‘Wild Winter‘ is a straight reissue of the original album without any extra tracks, or remastering, but it does have new and rather better artwork than the original release, designed by Jessica Davies. The live in the studio feel comes fully intact. Smoke Fairies have also revived their collaboration with Signature Brew with their Wild Winter ale. Originally brewed to complement the album, it has been brought back to match up with the re-release. Sadly, this was not included with the review material.
This is in the end a Christmas album you could genuinely play all year round, and it is good to see a reissue, even if in 2014 it was only via Rough Trade with full distribution not coming until the following year. The motivation behind releasing a “festive” record is always interesting, and usually commercial in nature. In this case the commerciality seems to be tied into the beer promotion, but it is hard to criticise any artist for taking the chance to pull in a bit of income when they have the chance, and this is a far more carefully thought-out seasonal album than most, as the choice of covers demonstrates. To be reminded of the unique combination of sounds that the Smoke Fairies offer is great at any time however. They sum ‘Wild Winter‘ up best themselves. “It’s buzzy and raw and not one tinkling of sleigh bells can be heard.”
