Well, still Folk--Chamber Folk, to be specific--but worth your time if you're looking for something completely different. These are Christmas tales of the forgotten, the cold and lonely, the homeless, the down and out. But they aren't anti-Christmas tunes. They are about finding beauty and meaning in a season (or at least seeking it) when everything around you is ugly and meaningless. There is a beauty to these songs--these stories--of truly bleak mid-winters.
Faux Fawn hail from Madison Wisconsin. The quest was begun by Paul Otteson, he of gentle vocals and tales of kings and kingdoms in the most unlikely of individuals and circumstance. He's been a staple of the local Madison music scene since at least 2011. The band formally came together in 2014, though they knew and had played together prior. While they are still performing, it doesn't seem as though Faux Fawn has released any new music since this "Turtle Doves" EP last December.
I had two favorites on this 4-song EP.. The opener, "Winter Dream", finds a homeless man whose Christmas wish is just to be close to a woman he's longed to be with. It's not entirely clear if this woman is also homeless or a resident of what is most likely a poor neighborhood. But status is relative and he clearly sees her as above his station.
I’ve known no fairer chestnut left near fiery gleam
and stood no closer to one I’ve dreamt to hold
The Christmas season, and a bottle of spirits, have given him the boldness to approach the maiden. But he's fully aware of his circumstance and the folly of his dream. Still, there is hope in the season.
Forgive my sudden Christmas wish this evening
I blame the lights and favors strung along the hall
But I have this bottle and nowhere left to be
Would you care to join the sleighbells wondercall
Eventually, he believes he's exceeded his welcome and suggests they just pretend the encounter was but a winter's dream. And the chorus is amazing...to say so much in so few words.
Ahhh
Woolen wants for weathered woes
Ahhh
Stolen stockings filled with holes
My other favorite was the closing number, "I Found A Star" which, to me, seems clearly about an addict. Hard to see anything else there with a line like "when needle pierced between my toes". He forsakes all for chasing the dragon. And yet there is still hope for redemption in the season.
Break this body of melancholy
Cloud my memory, sow a new seed
If babe so lowly, can grow so holy
Soon she’ll see me, past my strange need
Not a lot of people can write lyrics like that. Faux Fawn's "Turtle Doves" EP is a name-your-price download at Bandcamp.
Faux Fawn hail from Madison Wisconsin. The quest was begun by Paul Otteson, he of gentle vocals and tales of kings and kingdoms in the most unlikely of individuals and circumstance. He's been a staple of the local Madison music scene since at least 2011. The band formally came together in 2014, though they knew and had played together prior. While they are still performing, it doesn't seem as though Faux Fawn has released any new music since this "Turtle Doves" EP last December.
I had two favorites on this 4-song EP.. The opener, "Winter Dream", finds a homeless man whose Christmas wish is just to be close to a woman he's longed to be with. It's not entirely clear if this woman is also homeless or a resident of what is most likely a poor neighborhood. But status is relative and he clearly sees her as above his station.
I’ve known no fairer chestnut left near fiery gleam
and stood no closer to one I’ve dreamt to hold
The Christmas season, and a bottle of spirits, have given him the boldness to approach the maiden. But he's fully aware of his circumstance and the folly of his dream. Still, there is hope in the season.
Forgive my sudden Christmas wish this evening
I blame the lights and favors strung along the hall
But I have this bottle and nowhere left to be
Would you care to join the sleighbells wondercall
Eventually, he believes he's exceeded his welcome and suggests they just pretend the encounter was but a winter's dream. And the chorus is amazing...to say so much in so few words.
Ahhh
Woolen wants for weathered woes
Ahhh
Stolen stockings filled with holes
My other favorite was the closing number, "I Found A Star" which, to me, seems clearly about an addict. Hard to see anything else there with a line like "when needle pierced between my toes". He forsakes all for chasing the dragon. And yet there is still hope for redemption in the season.
Break this body of melancholy
Cloud my memory, sow a new seed
If babe so lowly, can grow so holy
Soon she’ll see me, past my strange need
Not a lot of people can write lyrics like that. Faux Fawn's "Turtle Doves" EP is a name-your-price download at Bandcamp.
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