Smoke Fairies – Wild Winter

Rarely has the bleak mid-Winter been so inviting...

Smoke Fairies are hardly a band synonymous with festive fare, the group building up a catalogue of intense yet melodic songwriting imbued with a wonderful sense of drama. But what the band do love is a challenge, so when a close friend invited them to focus on a Christmas-themed record they could hardly refuse.

Less ‘tis the season to be jolly’ and more ‘tis the season of the witch’ the results are predictably charming. There’s a sparsity to ‘Wild Winter’ that recalls barren trees, empty fields and plummeting temperatures, yet the songwriting itself has a genuine sense of warmth and inner strength.

‘Christmas Without A Kiss’ is about as directly festive as we get, before Smoke Fairies plough through the buzzy, raw riffs of ‘3 Things’ or ‘Give And Receive’. Title cut ‘Wild Winter’ is strong and absorbing, and ranks as one of the most mysteriously engaging songs on a record dominated by engagement with mystery.

Largely recorded live in the Kentish countryside, ‘Wild Winter’ thrives on a minimalist sound but that doesn’t mean that Smoke Fairies are immune to experimentation. There are odd knots in the vocals, the use of unsettling viola that continually cause the ears to prick up – the sharp taste at the end of mulled wine, perhaps.

‘So Much Wine’ and ‘All Up In The Air’ end the record’s graceful incline, the harmonies becoming gradually softer, the harsh tones replaced by something rather mellower. Perhaps the first Christmas-themed record ever to include a Captain Beefheart cover – dig their groovy version of ‘Steal Softly Thru Snow’ – this is an album that continually surprises. Rarely has the bleak mid-Winter been so inviting.

7/10

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