Sleigher by Ben Folds
“Christmas is constant,” says Ben Folds. “Allowing you to take stock of what’s different, to understand who you are and all the ways you’ve grown and changed.” That notion lies at the heart of Folds’ brilliantly titled new holiday collection, Sleigher. Built on an eclectic mix of originals and reimagined classics, the album examines the passage of time through the lens of Christmas, reflecting on memory, loss, and longing as it explores the variety of ways the yuletide season marks the chapters of our lives. The songs are playful here, full of humor and cheer, but they’re also laced with an inescapable sense of melancholy, a looming darkness that always seems to hover around the periphery of those late December nights. Folds’ performances, meanwhile, flirt with the standards while stretching the boundaries of tradition, at times offering up flashes of Vince Guaraldi and Burt Bacharach while still remaining true to Folds’ singularly virtuosic brand of off-kilter indie pop. The result is not so much a Ben Folds Christmas record as it is a Ben Folds record set at Christmas, a meditation on the inexorable turning of the calendar and our ever changing selves as observed at the most wonderful—and challenging—time of the year.
Tracklist
| 1. | Little Drummer Bolero | 3:24 |
| 2. | Sleepwalking Through Christmas | 4:02 |
| 3. | Me and Maurice | 3:52 |
| 4. | Christmas Time Rhyme | 4:34 |
| 5. | Waiting for Snow | 1:30 |
| 6. | We Could Have This (feat Lindsey Kraft) | 3:51 |
| 7. | The Christmas Song | 3:15 |
| 8. | The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle | 3:11 |
| 9. | Xmas Aye Eye | 3:49 |
| 10. | You Don’t Have to be a Santa Claus | 2:41 |
Credits
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Produced by Ben Folds
Recorded by Joe Costa and BF at:
Middletree Studios and Ben’s House - Nashville, TN;
EastWest Studios - Los Angeles, CA;
Yamaha Entertainment Group Studio - Franklin, TN
Mixed by Joe Costa
except “Sleepwalking Through Christmas” mixed by BF
Mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Sound - Nashville, TN
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All songs written by B. Folds
except
“We Could Have This” by B. Folds / L. Kraft
“The Christmas Song” by R. Wells / M. Torme
“The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle” by B. Bacharach / L. Kusik
“You Don’t Have to be a Santa Claus” by S. Ellis
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Strings for “Me and Maurice” and “We Could Have This” recorded at EastWest Studios
Jherek Bischoff - String Arrangements, Conducting, Double Bass
Daphne Chen - 1st Violin
Kate Outterbride - 2nd Violin
Marta Sofia Honer - Viola
Derek Stein - Cello
Chaz Sexton - String Quartet Session Recording Engineer
Carter Shepstone - String Quartet Assistant Recording Engineer
Mayumi Heider - String Quartet Session Assistant
Joe Pisapia - Banjo on #2, Guitars #4, 7, 8, 10
Ross Garren - All those Harmonicas, Vibraphones, B3, and the Piano on #7, 10
Lex Price - Double Bass on #10
Jamie Dick - Drums on #10
Kerry Marsh - Choir Arrangements on #4, 8, 10
Kerry Marsh & Julia Dollison - All Choir Vocals on #4, 8, 10
Amanda Stephan - Laughing on #8
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Anything not covered above was probably done by Ben
Album cover art & design - Sam Smith & Yusuke Matsumoto
Management - Mike Kopp
Booking - Jonathan Levine, Seth Malasky, Noah Plotinki
Publicity - New West and Big Hassle Media
Legal - Ken Anderson, Rimon Law
Record Label - New West Records, Kim Buie A&R
Ben endorses Yamaha pianos
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