Any Christmas album worth its salt draws from the classics. Versions of, say, “We Three Kings”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Silent Night”, “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” and “The Little Drummer boy” are compulsory. What is not so inevitable is how these musical and seasonal chestnuts are tackled. All five songs are covered on Lit Up: Music for Christmas, and all five sound like they never have before.
Astrocolor are from Canada. The five-piece from Victoria, British Columbia formed specifically to make a Christmas album like no other. Want a Massive Attack-style “We Three Kings”? Look no further. Need a jazzy, down-tempo "Sleigh Ride”? This is the place to come. Have a yen for a blunted-beats “Silent Night” with Mazzy Star guitar and sensuous sax? Come right here.
It’s probable the words "lit up" in the title do not refer to Christmas-tree lights, but the type of recreational drag which trip-hop was built for. Over the album’s 10 tracks, Astrocolor do for the Christmas album what a collaboration between Massive Attack and St Germain may have done: give it beats, a loping groove and the space of dub to create a soundtrack for kicking back when everything which has to be done has been done. Just the thing to complement the inertia inevitable after overdoing the seasonal cheer.
Overleaf: Watch the video for "We Three Kings” from Astrocolor’s Lit Up - Music for Christmas