Jon Boden & Eliza Carthy – Glad Christmas Comes: Album Review

By Mike Ainscoe on 5th December 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

Jon Boden & Eliza Carthy join considerable forces, wassailing for all they’re worth in the next of our folky festive features.

Release Date: Available now

Label: Hudson Records

Format: digital / CD / vinyl

Glad Christmas Comes – in which former Ratcatcher, Jon Boden joins former employer, Eliza Carthy, in a series of seasonal duets. The pair hardly need any introduction, so skipping straight to the chase, their festive collaboration, which also takes in a round of seasonal gigs, finds them applying distinctive takes on some traditional carols and some not so, whilst thankfully avoiding some (well, almost…) of the usual Christmas suspects in an alternative folky offering.

And like all good Christmas preparation, the songs were recorded earlier in the year in Sheffield, accompanied by Waterson: Carthy associates, Emily Portman and Tim van Eyken, with Morris dancing from Ewan Wardrop and brass from Yorkshire’s Backstage Brass. Amongst the 16 tracks are traditional Sheffield carols Mount Zion and The Holly & The Ivy from Jon’s local pub in Dungworth. In fact, that commitment to social singing provides a strong vein throughout the record. Take any of the songs here and it’s not difficult to imagine them being belted out with part sozzled gusto (the unaccompanied Glad Christmas Comes and particularly the chorus of King Of The Birds) or sung with gentle sensitivity (the Stanley Brothers’ Beautiful Star – harmonies and all) in some local village inn. Roaring fires, foaming ale and designated driver as standard.

Of the more recognisable offerings, In The Bleak Midwinter is given the full brass treatment; mournful and rich (while invariably evoking images of The Last Of The Summer Wine and Hovis) and if you close your eyes, it could be Eliza’s mum, Norma Waterson singing. In fact, it’s Winter Grace that was suggested to Eliza and Jon Norma whilst they rehearsed in the living room. I Saw Three Ships where guitar accompanies fiddle in the swinging tune that picks up the pace and with brass and fiddle, morphs into a hard-not-to-dance tune. A splendid and it must be said, stately Shepherds Arise, ripe for your local choir contrasts with Jingle Bells that emerges from fiddle birdsong and might have us all reaching for the After Eights. It might even have The young’uns David Eagle sharpening his famous Jon Boden impersonation… We all know the chorus (ad nauseum) but here’s a chance to get to grips with the verses, including the “We got into a drifted bank” line at first misheard as “We got into a jiffy bag.“

Elsewhere and dotted amongst the 200 or more year-old songs, the unbridled jolliness of The Good Doctor (not bad for a song Jon Boden “cobbled together“) – some might imagine some Bellowhead brass giving further ooomph on this one – with the classical-y string part is a highlight. Following in the footsteps of Kate Rusby, maybe starting a new trend, I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas is added to the repertoire alongside a folky version of the Pogue’s Fairytale Of New York that we’re informed features Morris dancing. Of note is how the duo seem to revel in a particularly venomous exchange in the “you’re a drunk, you’re a punk” section. Anyone of a sensitive nature might cover their ears, yet some of the original insults are tamed. However, beware Eliza delivering ‘b*****d’ with the same sort of relish as Sean Bean regularly did in Sharpe.

Before leaving the last words to Eliza, by nicking one of her social media posts, let’s reinforce the Ashen Bowl call and keep our fingers crossed “for pockets full of money and barrels full of beer.” Meanwhile…

“Doing a ‘Christmas tour’ just now, something I swore I would never do…and loving doing all the things I swore I would never do, by the way…I’m such a twat…” Full post here and it’s a nice little read. We’ll be reporting back from the Manchester gig – watch this space.

Here’s Christmas Star: