Snow Angels to Be Released October 2nd

Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler of Over the Rhine draw on their jazz, blues, and folk influences for the Christmas album ‘Snow Angels’ (Oct. 2nd, Great Speckled Dog). The married couple, who are among PASTE’s “100 Greatest Living Songwriters”, applies their sultry style and witty lyrics to twelve refreshingly new, sophisticated and sometimes dark holiday songs. Kicking off the album is the bluesy, piano-driven “All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue,” lead by Bergquist’s heartbreaking voice. OtR closes the album by exploring a darker side of the holidays on “We’re Gonna Pull Through,” a sp****, acoustic song about a struggling couple determined to survive, pausing to lift a glass in a moment of clarity. The duo recently bought a 170-year-old, pre-Civil War farmhouse in Southern Ohio and the title track, “Snow Angel,” imagines a possible tragic tale of the original couple that built the house. The result is an unforgettable protest song that leaves a lump in the throat because of its relevance to all-too-current events. Over the Rhine also adapted two traditional songs, including “O Little Town of Bethlehem” sung to a new melody and new lyrics, which imagine two lovers walking the prone-to-violence streets of modern-day Bethlehem. Bergquist elaborates, “A fan recently mailed us a photograph of some Over the Rhine lyrics spray-painted on the apartheid wall in Bethlehem, a sort of plea for peace. We were stunned by the photo, and felt it merited a response.” When OtR conjures holiday cheer on “Darlin’ (Christmas is Coming),” “Snowed In With You” and “Here It Is,” they create timeless, feel-good pop tunes with unexpected twists, thanks to the Phil Spector-like hi-jinx of producer Brad Jones (Matthew Sweet, Josh Rouse, Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith). And with only a blues guitar Bergquist seduces a “North Pole Man” to come inside and get cozy, singing, “Cold hands, cold feet/ darn snow, darn sleet/ it takes good friction/ to make good heat.” Another Snow Angels highlight is Detweiler’s piano instrumental “Goodbye Charles” dedicated to and influenced by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and the unforgettable music of the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Detweiler reveals, “Karin and I are drawn to Christmas music like children to snow; it just feels like play. As we set about brewing this music, we tried to steep it in the stuff of the everyday. But we hope Snow Angels is unlike any holiday record you’ve ever heard.”

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