Sufjan Stevens

Songs For Christmas

by Peter Morelli

Friday November 27 2009, 1:15pm

Songs For Christmas proves that seasonal music can be more than just the tinsel of department store tracks and alcohol-hazy sing-alongs. On the five EPs in this box set Sufjan Stevens wanders through the whole thematic wonderland of Christmas and (thank baby Jesus) gives the holiday back its properly joyous sound.

Terrific originals and skilfully arranged standards abound on each of the EPs, although Vol III: Ding! Dong!, with tracks like ‘That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!’, is where the collection really takes off. Vols. III-IV showcase original pieces strong enough to be on Stevens’ regular LPs, and it is these songs that make the box set such a pleasurable listen.

Whether or not you’ve experienced his chamber-folk sound, this is the place to escape the numbing bluster of uninspiring holiday standards and hear what Christmas sounds like when it has some actual life

Support Varsity

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our print newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding and we expect to have a tough few months and years ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content and of course in print too!

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as £1, to help with our running costs. Many thanks, we hope you can help!