We Wish You A Merry Christmas is the star of the North Mississippi Christmas EP, as it deftly blends what listeners would expect from the track with a very down-home and comforting set of vocals. While the effort may spin to a close before the four minute mark, fans will be singing along long after it has ended. Deck The Halls is a solid inclusion for this EP, as Olga is able to add further harmony to the effort with her voice; pulling double-duty on this track adds further cohesion to this alluring track.
O Christmas Tree has a solid instrumentation that makes for a rich and dense experience despite the intuitively simple singer / acoustic dynamic. Hints of Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, and Carole King can all be heard influencing Olga’s inimitable voice. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear is an impressive track in the dust-swept style in which it is couched; the momentum that Olga enjoys during this track makes for one of the North Mississippi Christmas EP’s strongest efforts. I feel that the instrumental and vocal sides to the track push each other to higher plateaus.
Few musicians take Christmas or holiday albums seriously; the resulting tracks on these releases are more or less the same versions that listeners have been hearing every Christmas. Olga is able to add some serious soul to these tracks, and in doing so, makes for a completely new experience out of old chestnuts. This ensures that the North Mississippi Christmas EP has considerable replay value for even lesser fans of the holiday. Check out Olga’s website for more information about her live dates, new recordings, and for further information.
Top Tracks: We Wish You A Merry Christmas, It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
Rating: 8.9/10
Olga – North Mississippi Christmas EP (CD)
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