Filed under: Related | Tags: Jan Burnett, John Douglas, Music, Spoken Word, The Grand Gestures, Trashcan Sinatras
‘Happy Holidays’ is the fourth and final album from The Grand Gestures – Jan Burnett’s collaborative project with various vocalists, both known and unknown that adds their lyrics and melody to his music. The music is mostly written around taped loops, synthesisers and various noises.
It’s a poignant album, taking an alternative but somewhat bleak look at the holiday season and features some previous collaborators like Hipsway’s Grahame Skinner, Sanjeev Kholi, Andrew Mitchell, Jill O’Sullivan and Celie Byrne alongside some new collaborators including the Trashcans’ John Douglas.
John’s contribution is the closing song on the album. I won’t give too much away, but ‘Sergeant Claus’ is a wonderful and humorous story of the characters he met and the trouble they got into during the arse-end of his teenage days living in London.
Almost the entire album is spoken word, but don’t let that put you off. In the words of Jan himself…
“It’s the record you put on at the end of a Christmas night, on your own, drink in hand.
Try not to cry.
Happy Holidays.”
2015 Chute Records CHUTECD250
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