If you intend to grab a last minute Christmas album then we’d have absolutely no hesitation in recommending you get hold of this years outstanding offering from Smoke Fairies. ‘Wild Winter’ is a graceful sophisticated cocktail of seasonal tunes, full of bleak beauty that in all honesty could be enjoyed at any time of the year, although admittedly it does seem to resonate when there’s a frost in the air outside, a roaring fire inside and you’re cradling a glass of particularly fine Whiskey (any excuse eh?)
‘Wild Winter’ doesn’t rely on sleigh bells, choirs , a bug-eyed brummy lumatic bellowing ‘It’s Christmaaaaaaas’ or egregious caterwauling to convey emotion or capture the sparse beauty of the season. Instead the Smoke Fairies concentrate on crafting songs that stand up in their own right, replete with beautiful melodies and in doing so conjure up the wild windswept rawness of the season. It’s punctuated with reflective bittersweet tales that meditate on themes of loneliness, love, regret, longing ..y’know all the good stuff … And although it’s certainly not a jaunty Christmas party album, it is a contemplative, touching, empathetic warm and witty album imbued with an elegant sparkling glacial beauty, like bouquets of cold breath on a frosty Christmas morning. We love it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkgc2fLVAXg