Dustin Kensrue

Christmas songs are a phenomenon. They appear, year after year, and no matter how classic or updated the style is in which they’re delivered, and everyone feels good when they listen to them. There is perhaps no other type of music that has as much power to elicit as much good tidings as a Christmas song, whether it be simple fun in the snow, or rejoicing over the reason for the season.

But the built-in emotional response doesn’t mean that every version of a Christmas song is good or will make it likeable. But nonetheless, countless artists try every year to present their own renditions of Christmas songs, as if theirs will become the new staple over versions by the likes of Bing Crosby, or Frank Sinatra.

This year, Dustin Kensrue, lead singer of hugely popular rock band Thrice, has tried his hand at some yuletide favorites while introducing a few of his own. But rather than make some fancy new showing of his Christmas spirit, he’s simply taken a stripped down approach to some of the classics we look forward to each year. This is both the success and the failure of his Christmas effort This Good Night Is Still Everywhere.

The album is very well crafted, and mixes some of the lighter aspects of Christmas time with some of the more somber, inward feelings. It’s also very well produced and is done by Teppei Teranishi, guitar mastermind and producer of the last Thrice record. It’s a natural sounding record, with mostly just Dustin and a guitar. His gritty, worn vocals are captivating, especially in the darker moods on the record.

Songs like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “O Holy Night” benefit greatly by Kensrue’s minimalist approach to them. “Christmas Blues” is one to make note of, because it’s such a departure from not just everything on the record, but just about everything he’s ever done, as it’s a traditional, old-timey blues song, complete with make-me-cry harmonica. It is as effortlessly rendered as it would be from blues greats like Eric Clapton or BB King.

Kensrue also takes a shot at rewriting the lesser known Christmas song, “Fairytale of New York.” One particular verse in the original song has been known for its controversial content, and the song itself is normally a duet. Kensrue explained on his MySpace blog that he almost didn’t include it on the album, yet decided to rewrite the perspective of the lyrics to reflect one man’s looking back on his life in the “drunk tank.” And he was right to do so, as its fits nicely in with the rest of the tracks.

Included on the album are two original songs, the title track, and “This is War.” For fans of Thrice, this is where you’ll get your fill, as these songs evoke the feel of Volume IV: Earth off of their last effort The Alchemy Index. Kensrue is a fantastic songwriter, lyrically and musically, and he has over his career crafted interesting and original material full of inward reflection as well as hope. This is why some of his creative decisions on this record seem like lost opportunities.

Songs like “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “Blue Christmas,” while fun and certainly intriguing coming from him, they make very little deviation from their most classic renditions. No, Kensrue doesn’t get all Elvis-style singing “Bluh-bluh-blue Christmas” with raised upper lip, but the music does follow the framework of that version and Kensrue just kind of sings his way through. Particularly disappointing is that he could have done so much more with “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” than simply singing line after line and just plowing through the song. And while “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” seems like the perfect tone for his style, the song just carries a one-two beat throughout, and towards the end gets borderline corny.

Overall, however, it is a Christmas album. And perhaps that was the point, as Kensrue seems to make no qualms about the fact he loves Christmas music for both its fun side and its melancholy side. You certainly don’t have to be a Thrice fan to enjoy Kensrue’s solo work, and this album will be approachable to an even wider range of people than anything else he’s done. After all, Christmas is about community, family, love, and hope, and while sometimes songs don’t reach their full potential, if they’re aiming for the message at the heart of it all, then sometimes that’s enough to warrant listening. Year after year.

Tagged as: Dustin Kensrue, This Good Night Is Still Everywhere

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