Merry Christmas – The Night The Night Fell

The Night the Night Fell staggers out of the starting blocks all shambling arrangements and multiple vocals that waver in and out of tune in creaky falsettos, all of which gradually asserts itself as how-we-do-things-round-here as the intricacy and intelligence guiding the songs along their the jittery, eclectic way becomes clearer. The songs are playful with structure, shifting pace mid-song as they hop from movement to movement, hook to hook, working more and more towards collective hands-in-the-air moments as the album winds its way towards a climax. In this sense, Merry Christmas’ songs are miniature lo-fi symphonies along the lines of a scrappy, bedroom New Pornographers, albeit with the rock edge blunted in favour of a campfire acoustic singalong atmosphere underscored by fragile xylophone chimes and the occasional intrusion of brass or melodica. A ragged collection of songs for sure, but with a lot going on under the hood.