October 23, 2006

Publication title: ScrippsNews, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Unknown
Writer: Chuck Campbell

McLachlan delivers cozy reflection on holiday

Sarah McLachlan takes Christmas seriously.

Her new “Wintersong” isn’t a festive collection of holiday tunes. There are no kitschy covers of “Santa Baby,” no boisterous versions of “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” no joyful “Sleigh Rides,” no giddy “Let It Snows.” That’s not McLachlan’s style.

Perhaps “Wintersong’s” most gleeful moment is the faint piano riff of “Jingle Bells” that floats out like an apparition toward the end of McLachlan’s textured version of Joni Mitchell’s melancholy “River.” And even if she projects an uplifting message with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the song is hardly awash in levity.

Yet while “Wintersong” isn’t a party album, it’s an unusually gorgeous one _ regal and reverent, with only a trace of the stagey preciousness that sometimes hounds somber artists such as McLachlan.

No one could cover John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and make it their own, but McLachlan makes a poignant go of it, complete with the support of a children’s choir from her hometown of Vancouver, Canada. She also delivers lovely, understated versions of “What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” _ though the line that jumps out on her version of the latter is “… if only in my dreams.”

“Wintersong’s” other highlights include a “Silent Night,” featuring appropriately angelic backing vocals, and a lush collaboration with pianist Diana Krall on “Christmas Time Is Here” (from the cartoon “A Charlie Brown Christmas”).

Then there’s the ambitious and epic fusion of “The First Noel” and “Mary Mary,” which soars from its humbly dainty beginning into a rousing world-beat soundscape.

Whatever the song _ and that includes the title-track original penned by the singer _ McLachlan graces the stately arrangements with her characteristically warm vocal that resonates in breathy stretches and flips distinctively at key points.

There’s nothing in the way of silliness here, but if you’re the type to skip the eggnog and go straight for the rum, this is the soundtrack to your Christmas.

Rating (five possible): 4