It's time for this notorious Christmas Grinch to review yet another Christmas album as it's the time for year to buy Christmas albums. This time it's the soundtrack to the film An Evergreen Christmas that is currently available to watch on Amazon Prime and it stars Charleene Clossey who stars in the film as well as writing and recording most of the soundtrack album.
Just so I knew what the music related to, that I'd already listened to once, at the weekend I made the Fab Girlfriend watch An Evergreen Christmas with me, her utter horror and shock that I was suggesting watching a Christmas film in November! When she realized just how chaste and sweet a film it was the consternation grew, I'll be paying for this for a while!!
That said if you want a family Christmas film with a decent if predictable story of being drawn back home to the family farm by familial tragedy and the re-unions with the friends you left behind while fleeing to the big city the film works wonderfully. But this is an album review not a film review so if you collect Christmas film soundtrack albums this is what it sounds like.
From the opening Evergreen, that's one of the songs on the album rather than incidental music, a sweet Christmas song evocative of being in the country with your family, with some gentle piano and strings and crystal clear vocals to help leave you full of seasonal spirit.
My Tennessee Home is a country folk ballad to help evoke the feelings in the film of what it's like to have to go home to the family farm in the Tennessee mountains from Evie's life in Los Angeles the acoustic guitars and mandolin work really well, this would sound good on many a country radio station.
Opening/O Holy Night is all about the sound of the violins stirring feelings within you of winter and sitting beside a fireplace with a nice mug of gluhwein, this is more classical than anything and works as a good bit of library music.
The Call/Balsam Falls that in the film soundtracks one of the key early scenes that means Evie has to return to the family Christmas tree farm, as this sparse poignant piano and strings piece help accentuate the feelings of sorrow and pain shown in the film.
Waking Up/Sprint To Win has an almost bluegrass hoedown feel to jogging along a mountain road that flies along at a good pace before falling away and sounding like a piece of Library bluegrass. Please don't make us look at the decor in the bedroom again.
Gone Fishin' is from one of the funniest scenes in the film and almost feels like an improvised piece of bluegrass background music with rather interesting percussion.
Walking Memory Lane has minimal piano and breathy background vocals to help lead you back to the childhood reasons for wanting to go and live in the big city, rather than being a country kid who never leaves the county much less the state you grew up in.
Poker Face is cool percussion and some nice picking that leads into the violin and bass taking over as the Poker game allows the twit of a city boyfriend to almost bond with Evie's old friends. This might also work as an instrumental bed on a country station as they announce the local stock prices for steers and turkeys etc.
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Oh Christmas Tree is sung by Jeff M Osbourne with a quite breathy vocal and very gently chiming music that wouldn't be out of place on Hillsong radio/TV.
Apple of Your Eyes is a very sweetly evocative song about the dearly and recently departed dad sung by Brantley Pollock who plays Evie's brother in the film.
The Offer sounds as dark and foreboding as the decisions being made in the film while it plays, as the normal will she won't she decisions play out on screen, I'll not spoil it with any detail on how things work out.
Scrape doesn't sound like your scraping your boots after a hard day cutting down Christmas trees, as it has more of a native drone and percussion feel to it with some angelic backing vocals it feels quite tribal apart from the piano lines accentuating it.
Secret Field is meant to evoke the dread and pain of discovering gypsy moths have invaded the secret field and yet it sounds far more upbeat and quite spacious as the moths circle overhead.
I Wonder As I Wander is the soundtrack to a long slow walk in the forest as you contemplate which way you want your life to go, city or country and the music is certainly not at all urban.
Adam & Evie is a plangent backing to a seduction of sorts as the will she re-kindle her childhood love or not. We Still Believe sounds like the music to walk down an aisle in a country church too as it becomes semi orchestral library music.
Honey Plum Fairy is a very slightly country bluegrass tinged reworking of the classic Sugar Plum Fairy and feels quite dreamlike.
The Kiss is every bit as chaste and innocent as the portrayal of the courting youngsters it depicts in the film before turning into a short country hoedown as they finally embrace.
Silent Night is an upbeat country twanging version of the song and in the film features our favorite character the DJ dressed as one of the Three Wise Men.
Evergreen (Instrumental) that plays over the closing credits is a cool piece of vaguely Christmassy piano music that will sound good in a nice big playlist.
Find out more at https://www.facebook.com/OfficialCharleeneClosshey/ https://charleeneclosshey.com/ https://anevergreenchristmas.com/
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