Description
Label Review.
2017 album.
Our Overview.
Minus 5 formed in 1993 headed by Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows. R.E.M., Baseball Project, Tired Pony, Tuatara, etc.) and as a pop collective each record the group released featured a new lineup. Now Minus 5 return with ‘Dear December’, a humble offering of original holiday classics.
In early 2017, Scott McCaughey penned a few holiday numbers to submit to a well-known artist’s prospective holiday album. He became so inspired by the task that he wrote more than an album’s worth of material and decided to record that album with his group, The Minus 5, which for this project includes Minus 5 co-captain Peter Buck and drummer Joe Adragna as core members.
“I wanted to evoke the classic Christmas album feeling without leaning too heavily on sweet baby Jesus and good ol’ Little St. Nick,” says McCaughey. “Yet I also wanted to curb my cynical tendencies as well. I feel we succeeded on both counts, and the results are a holiday record that should work for any and all.”
The resulting album, Dear December, brings holiday cheer and a fresh batch of seasonal songs that include the generous talents of Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Mike Mills, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of the Posies, Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Chuck Prophet, M. Ward, Tammy Ealom (Dressy Bessy), Kurt Bloch, Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor.
Track Listing:
1. New Christmas Hymn
2. When Christmas Hurts You This Way (featuring the Posies)
3. See You in December (with M. Ward and Chuck Prophet)
4. Festival of Lights (Hanukkah Song) (lead vocals by Mike Mills)
5. Johnny Tannenbaum (with Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor)
6. The Fourth Noel (featuring Colin Meloy)
7. Merry Christmas Mr. Gulp
8. Christmas Whiskey
9. I See Angels (lead vocal by Benjamin Gibbard)
10. Yule Tide Me Over (featuring Kelly Hogan
11. )I Still Believe in New Year’s Eve