Chilly Gonzales’ Solo Piano albums are my most-played albums all year round. They’re spare, atmospheric, and have the exact right blend of playful and morose to suit whatever mood I’m in, and make whatever I’m doing feel a little more sophisticated than it really is. So when I found out that Gonzales was releasing a Christmas album, I knew that my Yuletide was about to get a whole lot cooler. For those unfamiliar, Chilly Gonzales is the stage name of Jason Charles Beck, a Canadian pianist and composer who has collaborated with an array of pop stars, from Peaches to Feist. His live performances are full of schtick — he’s only a couple steps away from being a Tony Clifton-type character, donning lush smoking jackets and slippers. But his music transcends. A Very Chilly Christmas, which is available to stream but has already sold out on vinyl, is full of classics like “Silent Night” and “O Tannenbaum,” but also features covers of more contemporary holiday classics like “Last Christmas” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” There’s even a cover of one of the last songs recorded by late Silver Jews frontman and sometime Nashvillian David Berman: “Snow Is Falling in Manhattan” from Berman’s project Purple Mountains is sung by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. It’s haunting and solemn. Think of it as a welcome replacement for the once-beloved “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by charity supergroup Band Aid — it’s almost impossible to listen to that tune in 2020 without cringing. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
Listen to Chilly Gonzales’ A Very Chilly Christmas
