Seeker bring a jazz/blues/funk touch to Christmas with ‘The Christmas Album’. Ten traditional songs have been given the Seeker treatment, and oh what a treatment it is!
Opening with ‘O Holy Night’, Seeker lulls us into a false sense of security with tinkling bells…before showing us what they can do, a guitar led version of the classic you can slow-dance to!
Leading into ‘Walking In The Air’, this was never going to be done Aled Jones style! Seeker have a way of taking any song and making it their own, and this is no exception. Horns, keys and guitar underpin the smokey vocals.
Third song on the album, ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel’ and you definitely know it’s not your average Christmas album. Guitar led and jazz/calypso/disco even? It’s a great reinterpretation.
‘The Christmas Song’, the fourth track, is slow and sultry, conjuring up not so much chestnuts and open fires, as cabaret singers. It’s gorgeous, mellow, and smooth.
‘A King Is Born’, and the tinkling bells are back, this time with a snare drum and slow-dance worthy vocals.
By this time, you don’t quite know what to expect next, so when ‘Joy To The World’ starts, we’re prepared for anything. But again, as with the rest of the album, it’s a classy, velvet-soft reimagining of the song, while still retaining its classic tune.
Song seven, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ is probably the first time we come close to a traditional rendering of a song on this album. Slide guitar and slow drums combine with beautiful lead vocals and a sweet counterpoint.
‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ and we’ve returned to the Seeker style. The production values of the entire album are top notch, and no less so than on this song.
Song number 9, and we can almost hear dripping of icicles in the opening few bars before the vocals open up to sing ‘Silent Night’. There’s a bell sound suggested by the guitars, and we’re not sure how they do it, but it’s beautiful and again, shows off the sheer brilliance of this album.
The last track on a fantastic album, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, is a soft and reverent styling of the old Christmas hymn. Building up to a gentle crescendo (if is it possible to do such a thing), it’s a fitting end to a beautiful album, that could easily be played all year around, and not just relegated to those few weeks of the Yuletide season.
Find The Christmas Album, by Seeker, on their website. You can also see them perform live on Wednesday 2 December at The Villas Coffee Tavern, Hove. See here for tickets, and here for further information.
 
