I was following the pack all swaddled in their coats
with scarves of red tied round their throats
to keep their little heads from falling in the snow
and I turned round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall and turn
the white snow red as strawberries in summertime
Christmas time is here
Happiness and cheer
Fun for all that children call
Their favorite time of year
Snowflakes in the air
Carols everywhere
Olden times & ancient rhymes
Of love and dreams to share
Sleigh bells in the air
Beauty everywhere
Yuletide by the fireside
And joyful memories there
Christmas time is here
We’ll be drawing near
oh that we could always see
such spirit through the year
about
You could say that The Pinkerton Raid was born out of Christmas music. Some of singer-guitarist Jesse James DeConto’s earliest memories are of singing carols in church as an elementary-school kid. “Those melodies stick with me,” he says. “‘Silent Night,’ ‘O Holy Night,’ ‘Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.’” It seemed only fitting that with five full-length albums of his own songs under his belt and eight years of leading annual holiday sing-alongs, Jesse would at some point make a Christmas album. But after three decades of spiritual evolution, how could he celebrate a season that had once guided his journey without getting tripped up by all the metaphysical ballast that now feels more like an anchor than a rudder? “I wanted to record winter songs that feel essentially human, that capture the loss and longing, regret and despair, the fallen leaves and cut trees, the death of the past that somehow carries hope and possibility for the future, the most basic joy of being together.”
Drummer Andy Reed joined The Pinkerton Raid when they were preparing for their 2022 Songs for Humans holiday sing-along, and the collaborative recording process flowed from there, with DeConto returning to his roots as a bass player to lay down the rhythm tracks with Reed. They enlisted producer James Phillips, whose band Bombadil has earned a loyal following among fans of quirky modern folk. Trumpeter Cameron Collier joined as DeConto and Phillips were plotting the overdubs that would give the album its lush sound.
Collier’s brass and DeConto’s guitars alternate and interweave melodies throughout the songs, and keyboards from Phillips and from Victoria Victoria’s Noah Elliott accent the dynamic push and pull. Former bass player Derek Skeen and occasional collaborators Sarah Shearin, Alex Mitchell and Suzanne DeConto formed a small choir in Phillips’ studio to add the whisper of winter. The result is a tribute to the most natural, most elemental features of the season: the cold, the ice, the snow, the quiet, the fireside warmth, the layers of clothing, the seasonal depression, the futurist hope.
credits
released November 3, 2023
Jesse James DeConto: acoustic and electric guitars, vocals
Andy Reed: drums, percussion
Cameron Collier: trumpet
James Phillips: audio production, keyboards, percussion
Derek Skeen, Sarah Shearin, Alex Mitchell, Suzanne DeConto: background vocals
Noah Elliott: keyboards on "River"
Justin Longerbeam: mastering
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