Reviews
Artist:Mary Chapin Carpenter
Album:Come Darkness Come Light
Label:Universal
Tracks:12
Website:http://www.marychapincarpenter.com/
I will be the first to put up my hand and confess that I love cheesy Christmas music. However, the time and place for these songs is out shopping, at parties, or on the radio as you are driving here there and everywhere in the build up to the big day.
At home, I like real, atmospheric music, which evokes the sights and smells of Christmas. Come Darkness, Come Light - Twelve Songs of Christmas is exactly such an album. From the moment it opens you know you need to be snuggled in front of the fire, with a mug of hot chocolate or glass of mulled wine, watching the tree lights twinkle and dreaming of snow falling outside.
The mood is laid back and allows Mary Chapin Carpenter to show us once again that she is a great story teller, with each of the 12 songs featured on this CD painting vivid lyrical pictures of snowy landscapes and childhood Christmas memories.
The title track, "Come Darkness, Come Light," is undoubtedly one of the most poignant songs she has written during her career (on a par I would say with the heartbreaking Grand Central Station.) It could be considered a hymn for modern times, intertwining the traditional Christian story of a baby in Bethlehem with the concept of finding rest for the weary, using imagery of light and dark. Exquisite. Equally moving is Christmas Carol; clearly a personal song, to which I am sure many will relate. "I really don't remember much of Christmas growing up, except the year the Beatles came to play on my record player that came from Sears. That White Album filled my ears in 1968 on Christmas Day" Chapin (as she is often referred to) sings on a ' Christmas Carol.' I am sure we all have Christmas memories which are brought to mind by a particular song or album; fittingly some of those will undoubtedly be Chapin's own.
Some of the material is traditional - Once in Royal David's City, Still Still Still and Children Go Where I Send Thee, although it is refreshing to see that she has chosen less predictable offerings than many female singers who have released Christmas music of late. There is also a striking version of John Rutter's Candlelight Carol.
The rest of the album is comprised of original songs; Tommy Thompson's Hot Buttered Rum and Robin & Linda Williams' On a Quiet Christmas Morn are two such contributions. Most of the remaining songs were written by Mary Chapin Carpenter herself. Christmas Time In the City and Bells Are Ringing were co-writes with the ever reliable John Jennings with whom Chapin has worked for years.) Bells Are Ringing reminds us of the unity that Christmas brings; "Bells are ringing….calling the light….all over the world tonight." It gave me a certain sense of peace as I was reminded that for this one day in the year, at some point, all those we care about, be they near or far will be doing the same things as us, celebrating the same event as us.
What is it that really strikes me about this CD? The combination of song choices and the beautiful, sparse, stripped back sound. Often just MCC and an acoustic guitar, this album is such a refreshing change from the often overproduced and over commercialized Christmas discs on the market. It feels rather more that her purpose in this release was to capture the true essence of Winter and Christmas.
I could wax lyrical about this album all day, but suffice it to say that it belongs in everyone's Christmas music collection and deserves frequent rotation during the Christmas period. So get your fire lit, your hot chocolate in your hands and consider this the cream - of the crop of this year's seasonal offerings.
Oh and one more thing - consider it a Christmas gift from me - I have discovered that if you go to itunes you can download the bonus track as an individual track without having to buy the whole CD again; a lovely version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Whether they chose to omit this from the actual CD recording as they thought thirteen songs of Christmas would be unlucky, or simply because it doesn't really fit with the rest of the CD, I think they made the right choice. However, for the cost of a single download it is well worth adding the extra track to your collection.
Helen Mitchell