It’s that time of year again. The ATB Xmas countdown begins with seasonal and festive fare from Kate Rusby.
Release Date: 1st December 2023
Label: Pure Records
Format: CD / Digital / vinyl
The first of several folky festive offerings comes from serial Christmas enthusiast, Kate Rusby. She has some form too. You can be sure of never being too far from Christmas with Kate. When an early year snowfall sees her dashing outside for a photo opportunity (see the album cover) you know she’s always got an eye on the season of goodwill.
Light Years is something of a landmark; it’s her 7th Christmas album (probably unimaginable when she rang out with Sweet Bells back in 2008 as something of a seasonal diversion) and released a few days before she (unbelievably) hits fifty.
It’s a collection that also blends all the Rusby Christmas tropes with lashings of delicious trimmings. With six albums in the can, expect the expected, with glitter, Christmas lights and baubles of course, as standard. Traditional sits side by side with the comedic and the contemporary. An invite to go Rocking Around The Christmas Tree and the acceptance that It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year have us all set, bedecked with woolly jumpers and sat around roaring log fires.
All that’s to follow, as we first have the uplifting and unfeasibly jolly Spean. She has a knack of kicking off these Christmas album with a real belter. One that surely has to be promoted to the opening gig song – or should it be the encore!? All slumbering babes and bells ringing out as the brass lifts the jaunty tempo to set a familiar and friendly tone. Along with Glorious, the Christmas spirit is in full flow and the admission price has been repaid in spades within two songs.
Sonically, the opening pair combine the warmth and comfort of the brass section and the more contemporary Rusby ambience that sees the Moog and electric guitar create a celestial atmosphere. The Damien O’Kane / Duncan Lyall combo taking Kate off into the depths of space. Perhaps no surprise then that Chris De Burgh’s A Spaceman Came Travelling features; one from the ‘Now That’s What I Call Christmas’ box that fits the Rusby MO perfectly.
While Shepherds Watched (oh how we long for a gig/album full of the variants on this one) gets another outing in the form of Rusby Shepherds and with tongue planted firmly in cheek, Arrest These Merry Gentlemen and Nothin’ For Christmas lighten the tone. They sit amidst more serious guest appearances from Nowell, Joseph and banjo wizz Ron Block along with his day job boss, Alison Krauss plus Kate’s favorite thing in the night sky, the Moon, on The Moon Shines Bright. Imagine this gang turning up as a carol-singing company on your doorstep. Especially with the brooding arrangement they conjure up.
Light Years is the early delivery selection box of treats and perfect seasonal soundtrack fare. Music for putting up your decs. Now – that’s what I call Christmas; and I’d wager that four of the first five songs would be serious contenders for Kate Rusby’s ‘best of’ Christmas album – should she fancy taking a year off. Somehow, I doubt it!
Kate’s annual Christmas tour is almost upon us:
December 7 York Barbican, YORK
December 8 St. George’s Hall, BRADFORD
December 10 Cambridge Corn Exchange, CAMBRIDGE
December 11 Cadogan Hall, LONDON
December 12 Brighton Dome, BRIGHTON
December 14 Sheffield City Hall, SHEFFIELD
December 16 BIRMINGHAM Town Hall MATINEE SHOW
December 16 BIRMINGHAM Town Hall EVENING SHOW
December 17 Bristol Beacon, BRISTOL
December 18 Theatre Royal Concert Hall, NOTTINGHAM
December 20 The Glasshouse International Centre For Music, GATESHEAD
December 21 Bridgewater Hall, MANCHESTER
Kate Rusby online: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
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