BEN FOLDS

Sleigher (New West)

With the self-produced Sleigher, Ben Folds offers up seven new Christmas compositions – five full songs, two piano instrumentals – together with three covers. As we’ve come to expect, there is no shortage of sad melancholy, dry humour, or playfulness in these recordings, and while trying to resist giving in to the festive spirit it ultimately succumbs anyway.

Most of the album is a solo effort, with Folds layering vocals and instruments to build the tracks, though collaborating musicians include multi-instrumentalist Ross Garren, singer and actress Lindsey Kraft, and drummer/producer Joe Pisapia – plus a surprise guest in the form of an AI-sung chorus on Xmas Aye Eye. The largely unpredictable covers include a reverent acoustic guitar and piano rendition of The Christmas Song and a remarkably loyal version of Burt Bacharach’s The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle, with Folds’ good-old-days variety show style rendition featuring close harmony singers.

Sleigher is a mixed bag of an album, starting off with some of its more downbeat or reflective material and then getting jollier as it progresses. The mesmerising piano rhythm of Little Drummer Bolero is infused with festive runs and chords; the struggle of putting on a brave face for family at Christmas while mourning a personal loss in Sleepwalking Through Christmas; the introspective, meditative instrumental Waiting for Snow through to the simple clean lines of The Christmas Song and the toe-tapping The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle. I often rate an album higher if it takes a lot of creative risks, so this has a pretty high score for a festive Christmas album. 

words COLIN PALMER