Is it too early to think about Christmas? Yes, it is. Actually, this year I'm not sure you should think about Christmas until the day, if at all. But this Chilly Gonzales Christmas album is out next week, so we're making an exception. Also, it's a downbeat Christmas album, which seems apt.
Gonzales has long included minor key versions of pop songs in his performances and this new album - 'A Very Chilly Christmas' - applies that approach to popular Christmas songs. So, you get sad versions of Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' and Wham's 'Last Christmas', as well as standards like 'Silent Night' and 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'. There's also a minor key version of 'Auld Lang Syne', so you can ring in the new year on a downer too.
"Christmas is a time of very mixed intense emotion for me, and the existing canon often sounds like a forced smile", says Gonzales. "Christmas is a typical time for superficial happiness, but also a time for reflection and mourning the sad events throughout the year, and to play the songs in a minor key makes Christmas more authentic and realistic".
The album features contributions from regular Gonzales collaborators Feist and Jarvis Cocker. From it, this is 'Silent Night'.