For Christmas (Silver Knife/Thirty Tigers, 2021)
Amanda Shires
Reviewed by Dan MacIntosh
By the way, if you're expecting something familiar and comforting with Shire's performance of "Silent Night," you're out of luck, bub. She changes the lyrics from something positive, to words much more dark and dire. The dramatic piano arrangement transforms this lullaby into a Kurt Weill theater piece. This is followed by the saloon piano driven "Gone For Christmas," which is a yuletide break up song. It's a rollicking roadhouse arrangement, and not overly sad. "Let's Get Away" has a long piano intro, before settling into a warm piano ballad. It's chorus states, "Let's Get Away From Christmas This Year."
Shires' album won't give anyone the warm Christmas fuzzies. It's not so much an anti-Christmas album, as it is an alternative look at the season. So, if you're in the mood for something a little...no...a lot different, this might be the right gift on your wish list.
CDs by Amanda Shires





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