A Quiet Holiday with Duluth, Minnesota's Low

Low is an Indie Rock band from Duluth, Minnesota that formed in 1993 and remain active to this day.  In 1999, Low released a Christmas Ep on Kranky Records, a small album they described as a gift for fans.  The album mixes classic holiday songs with original compositions and does a good job of capturing the spirit of the season in a way that’s true to Low’s minimalist, melancholic sound.  The first classic song on the record is “The Little Drummer Boy”:

What a haunting version of a classic Christmas carol - so tranquil and trance-inducing.  The group also channels the King on their Christmas tribute album by playing one of country’s favorite holiday classics, “Blue Christmas”:

When Low plays country music, they really capture the quieter side of sadness and do so beautifully.  Their version of the song recalls a diversity of country acts, resembling artists like Mojave 3 or Cowboy Junkies as much as say Patsy Cline.  As mentioned before, Low recorded some original holiday songs as well.  Their song, “Take the Long Way Around the Sea,” tells in poetic fragments the story of the Biblical wise men; it’s a quiet song with minimalist arrangements and beautiful vocal harmonies that are so characteristic of the band's established sound.  Here's the track:

My favorite of the original compositions is the very Low-sounding slow-core track, “If You were Born Today (Song for Baby Jesus),” another melancholic song of sweet quietude. The song seems to lament the death of Christmas innocence, and I’m guessing the perpetrator here is the modern world: its commercialization of cultural ritual, its wars, its media.  The song sadly muses, If you were born today / We’d kill you by age eight / Never get the chance to say / Joy to the world...

The album is a beautiful holiday tribute - its mood is melancholic but poignant and poetic.  Most importantly, Low’s music captures the spirit of Christmas in a way that most water-downed, commercialized Christmas albums simply can’t.  To prove the point, listen to one of the more moving renditions of the classic “Silent night”:

Happy Holidays everyone!  And Peace on earth!!

Low's Gift to You is Right Here!