Thursday, 19 November 2020

Ben Rector - A Ben Rector Christmas


5 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Buy-stream A Ben Rector Christmas here (external link)

Well, this is rather delightful. While I'm dreaming of a White Christmas, Ben Rector is out there singing about - and not just telling you to have a wonderful time but rather letting you feel it along with him. Fresh from the musical enchantment that was his Magic album, Ben is back and letting us experience A Ben Rector Christmas. Across the seven songs, he issues you with a personal invitation to dive into the holiday spirit and emerge with a spring in your step and a song in your heart. It is clear how much Ben loves the festive season and that is conveyed with each note played and each word sang. He's immerses himself and the listener into a wave of memories from Christmases gone by, eliciting an intimate reaction that is more uplifting than the most heart-warming of the Hallmark Christmas Movie marathon. Your new future perennial favourite to dig out and create new memories to year after year...
  • The Thanksgiving Song ~ the EP opens with a very Ben Rector thanksgiving; and as a Brit, I'm appreciating the insight into this American tradition. With beautifully expressive lyrics & a heartfelt vocal, Ben's hopeful message is swathed in shuffling percussion, elegant piano and an infusion of shimmering guitar. It is so vivid & descriptive that Ben conjures up the images he sings about with such a timeless and mellifluous grace. Turns out you don't need to be American to have the sentiment of Thanksgiving Day in your life - just an ability to look inwards & count your blessings. 
  • It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - a spoken word intro explains why Ben adores Christmas. He's full on suave raconteur here, all finger clicking groove and flirtatious piano as he sings the ebullient seasonal standard. Layered vocals make this feel like a convivial affair but it is all performed with such rat pack cool that you can imagine Ben performing with his bow tie undone round his open tux shirt collar. It is Club Christmas with no dress code - just a guarantee to make you glad from head to (mistle)toe.
  • Christmas Time Is Here ~ if the preceding track was the late evening vibe to get the club in the festive mood, then this is the early morning song while you are nursing a night cap and lost in a reverie of reflective pondering. Like the elegiac original, Ben gets the balance between melancholy and magical precision perfect. He crafts this mesmerising instrumental aura that helps the cares of the world fade away. Meanwhile his voice is like honey melting into hot chocolate and just as soothing.
  • This Christmas ~ there is something so gloriously ebullient about this song that it never fails to put you in a good mood. That Ben sounds like he is having a rip-roaring time singing it is icing on the already delicious cake. With chant-along style harmonies and electrifying slide guitar, he brings the spirit of the season to life with his festive party take on this song. Throw in that playful piano solo and it is a gleeful sleigh ride of a song. The weather outside may well be frightful but this will give you a warming glow all over...
  • Frosty The Snowman ~ A Ben Rector Christmas means you get party starter, soothing crooner and now raconteur storyteller. I'm not sure I ever envisaged this song as an icy cool jazz-tinged jam but it makes it as compelling as any episode of Jackanory. The instruments are layered into the score as the song progresses like ingredients being added into the Christmas pudding. Play on loud for 3 minutes and Frosty's life story is as timeless and enjoyable as ever. Thumpity-thump-thump indeed!
  • Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas ~ based on the magical enchantment of this song, if Ben asked "meet me in St Louis" I'd be there, travel restrictions be damned. With a lilting piano and soft percussion, the focus remains on Ben's heart felt and sincere vocal where each word is drenched in an aching sense of wish for a better tomorrow. It is such a melodic musing from the maestro that you can't help feel that even Judy Garland would be captivated. After the ghastly 2020 we've all had, this feels like the reward for getting through to happier times ahead.  
  • The Christmas Song ~ from Judy to Nat without skipping a beat. Part of the skill of this EP has been Ben's ability to take all these disparate songs, connected by their link to the holidays, and make them feel cohesive and consistent. It is a thoroughly absorbing lullaby that takes all the sentiment of the preceding six songs and wraps it in one final, illustrious bow. The Great American Songbook is in adept hands with Ben and if he wants to revisit the holidays year on year I'd be more than OK with that. If not, this is one evergreen reminder of how gratifying Christmas can be.
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