
Jill's a singer-songwriter in what, to be facile about it, is the "goth" realm, or as she states in her website bio, someone who seeks to unite the sensual with the sinister. This 2012 holiday disc is her fourth album, and her approach is not too far from Tori Amos or Kate Bush. Unfortunately, the effect across a whole album is rather monochromatic, as everything is piano-driven at a moderately slow tempo. Her choices of traditional carols are appropriate for this approach, as she does "O Come O Come Emanuel," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Coventry Carol," "What Child Is This," "We 3 Kings," "Carol of the Bells" and "In the Bleak Midwinter," with "God Rest Ye," "Midwinter" and "Carol" being instrumentals. She provides one original song, "Room 19," a melancholy musing from someone who appears to be held against their will in some sort of facility on Christmas Eve. This appeals to a certain kind of person, and if it's you, go for it.
Leave a comment