This video is from 2012 and is not the recording that will appear on the album.
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1. A Long Way Home
2. When Winter Comes 3. This Great Old Christmas Night 4. A Second Or A Year 5. Cold Cold Feet 6. When It Rains On Christmas Day 7. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day 8. One Last Wish For Christmas 9. Snowy White River 10. Clothe Yourself For The Winter 11. Christmas 12. Winter Canon 13. A Berlin Christmas Tale 14. A Carol For The Lonely |
You already know this, but I'll say it up front. I am not without bias when it comes to Sofia Talvik. I think she is easily among the most brilliant singer/songwriters in the Folk, Folk Pop, and Americana genres today. It wasn't love at first listen. Back around 2005, cruising the internets, I stumbled across "Xmas On The Dancefloor" by Sofia & Sophie (Sophie is Sophie Rimheden). It was a nice Dance Pop number, but it didn't really stick to the ribs, if you know what I'm saying. I liked it well enough, but I didn't love it. The next time I encountered Sofia was 2007's "Christmas" and it was a revelation.
"Christmas" was unlike any Christmas song I'd ever heard, at the time. It was dark, but beautiful. It was at once disturbing and comforting. The imagery was beyond gorgeous. Sofia was clearly a talented lyricist--a poet--and, had she never recorded another Christmas song, I felt she'd already left an indelible mark on the holiday canon.
"Christmas" was unlike any Christmas song I'd ever heard, at the time. It was dark, but beautiful. It was at once disturbing and comforting. The imagery was beyond gorgeous. Sofia was clearly a talented lyricist--a poet--and, had she never recorded another Christmas song, I felt she'd already left an indelible mark on the holiday canon.
But Sofia continued recording Christmas songs, thank the gods and goddesses...every year. Usually free or name-your-price, sometimes for charity, and always absolutely brilliant. By last year, she had enough seasonal gems for a full album and "When Winter Comes" was originally intended for a 2016 release. A little bit of real life delayed the release--flooding at the homestead--and Sofia had to shift priorities. For most artists, that would have delayed nothing. The songs had already been recorded, afterall. But Sofia didn't want to just throw a bunch of songs from different years and sessions onto a disc and call it done; she wanted a cohesive album. To that end, she began re-recording, re-mixing, re-mastering and re-imagining the songs. Play them side-by-side for yourself. You'll hear the differences. The new versions are fuller and richer and, most importantly, of a single piece.
The other point that bears some discussion is this idea that Sofia's Christmas songs represent the dark side of Christmas. Sofia would tell you so, herself. But I'm going to offer a different point of view on that. I think it helps your perspective to not always look at things straight on. You know how cats will tilt their heads to one side when they're looking at you? I think it helps you to see things more clearly when you look at them slightly askew. One of my favorite television shows is "Supernatural". Ask most anyone and they'll tell you it's a show about monsters. That's not how I see it. I've always--always--seen it as a show about brothers. See how that changes your perspective?
Sofia's Christmas songs deal with darker themes, to be sure. They aren't all sleigh bells and candy canes. They deal with loss, separation, regret, isolation... And you know what? All of the best Christmas songs do. "White Christmas" is not a happy song. Nor is "I'll Be Home For Christmas". Even more modern favorites like "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" and "Last Christmas"...they might be set to snappy music, but they are not, lyrically, about holiday joy. They just aren't. Fluff like "Jingle Bells" or "There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays", they're just the filler between the true classics which, almost without exception, are about moving forward with hope in spite of darker circumstances. And that's as it should be. Because that's real life. Christmas, itself, has its origins in the human need for light in the midst of darkness--and you can apply that to either the religious or secular nature of the holiday. A lot of people drive themselves crazy every year trying to "re-capture" a purely joyful darkness-free holiday when no such animal ever existed. It's like the people who think life was so much better in the Fifties. It wasn't. That's just a trick of the mind as it attempts to erase all the bad and glorify the good. At some point, the darker side needs to be dealt with and music is a very healthy way of doing that.
OK, a bit of a rant, there. Point is, Sofia Talvik creates characters in her Christmas songs that are so complete, so real, that, yes, there is darkness...but there is also that spark of hope...of carrying on in the face of the darkness. And that isn't dark, to me. That's human.
The other point that bears some discussion is this idea that Sofia's Christmas songs represent the dark side of Christmas. Sofia would tell you so, herself. But I'm going to offer a different point of view on that. I think it helps your perspective to not always look at things straight on. You know how cats will tilt their heads to one side when they're looking at you? I think it helps you to see things more clearly when you look at them slightly askew. One of my favorite television shows is "Supernatural". Ask most anyone and they'll tell you it's a show about monsters. That's not how I see it. I've always--always--seen it as a show about brothers. See how that changes your perspective?
Sofia's Christmas songs deal with darker themes, to be sure. They aren't all sleigh bells and candy canes. They deal with loss, separation, regret, isolation... And you know what? All of the best Christmas songs do. "White Christmas" is not a happy song. Nor is "I'll Be Home For Christmas". Even more modern favorites like "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" and "Last Christmas"...they might be set to snappy music, but they are not, lyrically, about holiday joy. They just aren't. Fluff like "Jingle Bells" or "There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays", they're just the filler between the true classics which, almost without exception, are about moving forward with hope in spite of darker circumstances. And that's as it should be. Because that's real life. Christmas, itself, has its origins in the human need for light in the midst of darkness--and you can apply that to either the religious or secular nature of the holiday. A lot of people drive themselves crazy every year trying to "re-capture" a purely joyful darkness-free holiday when no such animal ever existed. It's like the people who think life was so much better in the Fifties. It wasn't. That's just a trick of the mind as it attempts to erase all the bad and glorify the good. At some point, the darker side needs to be dealt with and music is a very healthy way of doing that.
OK, a bit of a rant, there. Point is, Sofia Talvik creates characters in her Christmas songs that are so complete, so real, that, yes, there is darkness...but there is also that spark of hope...of carrying on in the face of the darkness. And that isn't dark, to me. That's human.
I think this is most easily seen in "A Berlin Christmas Tale", which remains my favorite Sofia Talvik Christmas song to date. As Berlin is a city of contrasts, it's the perfect setting to clearly lay out the eternal contradiction of Christmas. On the one hand, it's snowing through a hole in the roof of a room that's colder than it is outside because you couldn't afford to pay the electric bill. On the other hand, "Baby, it's Christmas in Berlin." It's cold and it's dark...and there is no place more wondrous to be at Christmas. That's not darkness to me. That's beauty. That's the good holding the bad at bay. And, by the way, I've lived that...though not in Berlin, sadly. Lost a job in Massachusetts, couldn't afford to pay for the heat (and it was cold as a mother), fishing the butt end of a cigarette out of the ashtray hoping to steal a puff. But walking down the streets of Boston all decked out for the season, looking in the shop windows, a light snow falling.... It was Christmas! And that was reason enough to have hope and to carry on.
"When Winter Comes" opens with "A Long Way Home", Sofia's tribute to truckers. Well, OK, that doesn't sound quite right. Try it this way: the protagonist of the song is a trucker, trying to get home in time for Christmas. My Uncle was a trucker who often had to work on Christmas. Mostly, I remember how my Aunt and my cousins would hold their hearts in their throats until he was home and safe. They knew joy at Christmas, but they also knew dread. I remember enough to say, once again, that Sofia has painted a very real and human portrait, here...one that encompasses the light as much as the darkness.
The title track, "When Winter Comes", originally appeared on what I believe was Sofia's debut album, "Blue Moon". It's not a Christmas song. It's a relationship break-up analogy (I think). "You can live in the draft of a broken window as long as summer keeps you warm. But when winter comes..." Love the new version...pedal steel, cello and flute! Awesome!
"This Great Old Christmas Night" is Sofia's 2017 Christmas song and has our Swedish Americana artist going Celtic. As the promotional material says, "This Great Old Christmas Night" sounds as traditional as songs that are hundreds of years old, but Sofia penned both music and lyrics. The lyrics are terrific and, again, make my point of shining light in the darkness. The song is the spirit of a newly departed telling his/her family to remember him/her, raise a glass to him/her, but not to be sad about the passing. "Deep in the frozen ground, new life will again be found" and "Fill your cup with joy and laughter and don't shed a single tear" are just two lines that grabbed me right away, but the whole thing is marvelous.
Up top, I jumped from 2005 to 2007. Were you wondering what happened to 2006? Me too. Sofia's Christmas song that year was "A Second Or A Year". To me, this song has a lot in common with last year's "When It Rains On Christmas Day". There are layers in both I'm almost afraid to peel away. On the surface, this is introspection on a relationship following a recent fight. But, without saying it, Sofia definitely gives you the vibe that there's something very wrong, here. She wishes she had the answers. She wishes she didn't know what she knows, but it's so clear. And yet.... It's Christmas. I still see light, here, but this song gives me the shivers more than the murder ballad "Christmas".
The title track, "When Winter Comes", originally appeared on what I believe was Sofia's debut album, "Blue Moon". It's not a Christmas song. It's a relationship break-up analogy (I think). "You can live in the draft of a broken window as long as summer keeps you warm. But when winter comes..." Love the new version...pedal steel, cello and flute! Awesome!
"This Great Old Christmas Night" is Sofia's 2017 Christmas song and has our Swedish Americana artist going Celtic. As the promotional material says, "This Great Old Christmas Night" sounds as traditional as songs that are hundreds of years old, but Sofia penned both music and lyrics. The lyrics are terrific and, again, make my point of shining light in the darkness. The song is the spirit of a newly departed telling his/her family to remember him/her, raise a glass to him/her, but not to be sad about the passing. "Deep in the frozen ground, new life will again be found" and "Fill your cup with joy and laughter and don't shed a single tear" are just two lines that grabbed me right away, but the whole thing is marvelous.
Up top, I jumped from 2005 to 2007. Were you wondering what happened to 2006? Me too. Sofia's Christmas song that year was "A Second Or A Year". To me, this song has a lot in common with last year's "When It Rains On Christmas Day". There are layers in both I'm almost afraid to peel away. On the surface, this is introspection on a relationship following a recent fight. But, without saying it, Sofia definitely gives you the vibe that there's something very wrong, here. She wishes she had the answers. She wishes she didn't know what she knows, but it's so clear. And yet.... It's Christmas. I still see light, here, but this song gives me the shivers more than the murder ballad "Christmas".
The album's only cover is "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" which, to the best of my knowledge, Sofia recorded for the first time, here. I've always loved the song and Sofia's version is so ethereal, I feel I'm witnessing firsthand an after-battle scene like you'd see in a Ken Burns documentary on the Civil War...bodies strewn everywhere, cannons abandoned, and a smokey fog rising from the cold, damp ground. Sofia includes the stanzas that relate directly to the Civil War that most artists omit.
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Of course, the point of the poem/song is the same as the one John Lennon tried to get across over 100 years later..."War is over.....IF you want it."
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Of course, the point of the poem/song is the same as the one John Lennon tried to get across over 100 years later..."War is over.....IF you want it."
"One Last Wish For Christmas" is another of my favorites. Perspective exercise here. Some would say the old man is holding on to his regrets. I prefer to think he's, at last, letting them go. Yeah, I can be glass half full like that, even if it clearly isn't. In either case, it's better not to cultivate regrets. Never put off telling someone you care for that you love them. And that pretty girl or guy you can't bring yourself to speak to? Risk it. In the long run, regret is worse than rejection. Just sayin'.
"Clothe Yourself For The Winter", while not technically a Christmas song, is about as "song for our times" as you could imagine. And I know it can be hard, sometimes, but I do have hope that we will get through this and emerge from darkness to light, just as we have in the past.
"When Winter Comes" closes with "A Carol For The Lonely". I love that the song is a bit of a hammer. And the thing about hammers is, when you crack things open, all kinds of stuff spills out. In this case, we would do well to remember that we are all, each of us, flawed in some way (I'd say "broken" in some way, but I could see some folks taking offense to that). If you've never been down and out or lonely or broken-hearted, well, let's just say I'm skeptical. "A Carol For The Lonely" is a carol for all of us. I don't want to get too preachy but it is better to give than to receive, and I'm not just talking about family and friends. We are all the same and we are all connected. And most of the problems we face as a country and a planet we created because we seem to have forgotten that.
"Clothe Yourself For The Winter", while not technically a Christmas song, is about as "song for our times" as you could imagine. And I know it can be hard, sometimes, but I do have hope that we will get through this and emerge from darkness to light, just as we have in the past.
"When Winter Comes" closes with "A Carol For The Lonely". I love that the song is a bit of a hammer. And the thing about hammers is, when you crack things open, all kinds of stuff spills out. In this case, we would do well to remember that we are all, each of us, flawed in some way (I'd say "broken" in some way, but I could see some folks taking offense to that). If you've never been down and out or lonely or broken-hearted, well, let's just say I'm skeptical. "A Carol For The Lonely" is a carol for all of us. I don't want to get too preachy but it is better to give than to receive, and I'm not just talking about family and friends. We are all the same and we are all connected. And most of the problems we face as a country and a planet we created because we seem to have forgotten that.
Sofia Talvik's "When Winter Comes" is a treasure, a time capsule, a collection of life lessons, and a very bright light in the darkness. Let's just hope she continues with her annual tradition and doesn't see the album as the final act (a la The Killers). Release is slated for November 24 and I'd certainly recommend getting the hard copy CD, rather than just a digital download. You might even want to consider "The Christmas Package", which includes an exclusive lyric booklet. You can pre-order via Bandcamp and you can and should continue to follow Sofia through her Facebook page and her official web site.
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