Joy
Reunion Records/Provident Label Group
You knew it was coming. It’s not even Thanksgiving and here we have the first Christmas music review!
What a difference time can make. A little over a year ago I reviewed Steven Curtis Chapman’s record “Re:creation” and said, among other things, that it seemed “everything lying around was thrown in.” What I didn’t say was that Chapman had recently gone through the heartbreaking loss of his child in a tragic accident and almost certainly didn’t have his heart in the making of that record.
Just over a year later Chapman is poised to release another record, this time a Christmas album titled “Joy.” A mix of new and rearranged traditional songs, Chapman has created a magnificent palette of lush beauty. It’s all here — jumping bluegrass (well, almost), elaborate and skillfully performed jazz, swaying finger-style acoustic guitar numbers, and, at the heart of it all, an energy and joy from Chapman and his band that utterly sucks you in. Even the recording process adds to the joy of the record — unprocessed, clean and in-your-face. To me, this is easily the best Chapman has ever sounded, and to say that about what has come to be, for most artists, an obligatory holiday record is as unexpected as it is welcome.
Chapman and his band retreated to a studio in Lexington, Ky. (Chapman’s home state), put up a Christmas tree and Chapman wore his Charlie Brown T-shirts for the entire recording session. It worked. If there’s a better Christmas record released this season, I’ll be amazed.
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