42 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Simply Christmas here (Amazon UK)
Read my review of Leslie's debut album here (MyFizzyPop)
The original Aaron Burr from broadway smash, Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr is giving the world the ultimate gift this season with his inaugural Christmas album, Simply Christmas. If his acclaimed eponymous debut album (review link above) was (is) a soul searching journey of hope and optimism, Simply Christmas is a celebration of a season that embraces those sentiments wholeheartedly. At a taut eight tracks, it is a concise exploration of how Christmas can elicit heightened feelings at very opposite ends of the spectrum with a message that togetherness and kindness will always win out in this crazy, mixed up world of ours. Leslie favours talent over technology, a disciple of expressive vocals that accentuate well worn words with adroit new insights and a master of how music and melody can weave together to craft enduring majesty we won't soon forget. Simply put, Simply Christmas is the ghost of Christmas past, present and future - it will remind you of seasonal memories from years gone by, soundtrack key moments from this year as you play it throughout the season and be the music you return to in years to come as you reminisce (and continue to write your next Yuletide chapters of life).
It all starts with the aching wish of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Continuing the exquisite jazz stylings of his debut album, Leslie and his band create a shimmering new style of winter wonderland to immerse yourself into. The brush against the snare feels like the crunch of boots on fresh fallen snow, the tinkling piano an aural representation of intricate snowflakes falling from the skies. Leslie imbues his earnest plea with both a wistful nod to the pensive nature of the season yet also projecting that promise of salvation that Christmas, more than anytime of year, can offer. If I say it's a meandering marvel, it is only to highlight that you want to stay in the song as long as possible and the rhapsodic score encourages you to do so. The First Noel begins as a more traditional rendition of the much loved carol. Leslie's voice wraps itself around the lyrics, conveying the sense of awe and wonder the story demands. The constant nature of the piano chords reflect the eternal nature of the song and it becomes a most beautiful duet between instrument and voice. A key change heralds in warming guitar notes and the song soars to heavenly new heights, before taking one final pause to remember the humility and reverence the greatest story ever told should inspire in us all. Beautifully done in the most mesmerising of ways. Now I'm not sure when Sound of Music song My Favourite Things became synonymous with the festive season but when it immerses you in visions of wrapping presents and opening them with loved ones surrounding you, I'm certainly not complaining. It is a more restrained version than the bombastic thunderstorm of a performance in the movie but no less engaging. In fact, Leslie teases out the soothing nature of the words and the power they can have in giving comfort and succor. It is the thought of what might be that soothes and this is the theme that continues into the devastating I'll Be Home For Christmas. Horns, percussion and piano coalesce to underscore the wistful tonal quality Leslie gives with his hopeful singing. He sings not because it will make the titular dream come true but because not singing leaves him alone with the possibility that it won't happen. A singer that can evoke this style of emotion that fills the gaps in the song is one to be treasured - and Leslie is at the top of his game here.
The Christmas Song is a song that feels like it was written just to be unearthed and sung by Mr. Odom. His heartened take on the indelible lyrics and evergreen melody is a blissful tour of his own reflections and ruminations on the season. On his debut album, each song became his own through his articulate way of suffusing the song with flashes of his own experience and personality - that continues on Simply Christmas and is brilliantly vivid on this song. It what makes him one of a few people who can ably cover the material of The Carpenters as he does on Merry Christmas Darling (pondering if there was a comma between Christmas and Darling took me right back to the Hamilton soundtrack). This contemplative story of separation and longing has long tugged at my heartstrings every time I hear it and Leslie gives it a particularly tender quality. His falsetto adds to the resigned hurt of the lyrics and makes this one of the most affecting songs on the album. It makes you pick up the phone and make that call that you've been distracted from making to a loved one who is missing you just as much as you miss them. Land and sea may often divide us but it is in the quiet moments that we find unity - as Leslie makes radiantly clear with his stunning rendition of this song. Winter Song continues the theme of Merry Christmas Darling with an exploration of slow burn music that powers and crescendos with the message of the song, in perfect synchronicity with Leslie's voice. Again, it is the togetherness that makes the spirit of Christmas resonate long past the day you take the tree down and Leslie is the most ambrosial teller of these stories - like a guardian angel from on high to share that sadness can still turn to happiness, even when you don't feel like being merry and bright. And it is his celestial voice that takes you to giddy new heights on the stellar Ave Maria. Pure, simplistic magic from the first piano key to his last humble note, this is exactly what Simply Christmas is about - a man sharing his thoughts on the season and hoping that it makes it a little bit better for all those who accompany him on this elegant, dignified journey. Amazing.
**Ghosts of Christmas Past**
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