Album Review: Michael Angelakos “Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields” Feels Like A Christmas Town of Music
Passion Pit’s Michael Angelakos and Harlem Shakes’ Brent Katz have united forces to create an album that feels like a Christmas town was packed into 15 tracks of music. I write this review with absolute joy because out of the many Christmas albums that have come out this year, this one drips with holiday glee. Grab the eggnog and candy cane straw to sip through the cheerful album of Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields.
Angelakos’ Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields snows into your mind with the crystals flakes of it “Overture”. Like a musical. it feels as if a curtain has been drawn and you are sitting down to “Meet Me At Daphne’s”. Already, you are getting a feeling that Angelakos’ has not made a Christmas album but a Christmas world. You can envision families trekking the snow, excited to open their gifts, and eat like there is no tomorrow. The vision is sweet and wholesome, which are two words not usually associated with Passion Pit or Harlem Shakes. It is not that these bands do not represent that, but their styles are more about exhilaration and “in your face” euphoria. While you can hear their music at a club or on the radio, Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields sounds like home. It is a record to put on as you chat with family and reminisce over the year, or to put on your headphones and literally imagine the characters you meet on your way to see Mr. Fields. It is clear Angelakos is doing his own style, and it is wonderfully tender in voice and starry arrangements.
Somehow, Angelakos has managed to make even the drum sound light and crisp like a Christmas wind. Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields is 100% an album of light. No song is heavy in synths, bassline, and lyrics. Even its “darkest” song, “Weather The Storm” has a cool sax that plays into its lyrics like wind with winter trees; no matter what, you will be moved by its breeziness. In being arranged exactly like the narrative of a musical, the album is very fluid and an unstoppable listen. You want to hear what happens next in this world/ journey of Angelakos, especially because his voice resonates with virtue. While many use their voice to exemplify pain, Angelakos uses it to embody hope.
Angelakos has voice that is rich and frothy like hot cocoa. You want to follow him in this story that is very much about nostalgia. Again, Christmas is both a celebration of the ensuing New Year, but also a look-back at the ones that have past. As he gets a step closer to wishing Mr. Fields Merry Christmas, Angelakos relives the love he has experienced and wishes to have even more. The feeling/ remembrance is familiar with Christmas, an unusual time where people are specifically determined to look at the better aspects of life, beyond anxieties and personal issues. For me, this is what makes Angelakos’s album so “Christmas” for a lack of better word; his determination to be hopeful and remain in love with life. As Angelakos goes further through this holiday world for “Permission To Audition” for love, to relive memories while looking at “Stained Glass Windows”, and finally wish “Merry Christmas, Mr .Fields”, he provides a feeling of completeness.
The sense of “completeness” is integral to Christmas. This is a time where you want and decide to feel good about your life, and not walk around anymore like a “glass half empty”. I do not know if this is Angelakos’s plan, but it would be great to see this record, somehow, transcribed for stage and made one of the many holiday traditions customary to artists who seek to give Christmas their own spin. Moreover, AKH Productions will donate all of the album’s proceeds to charity, and to The Nichols School Arts Department, Angelakos’ alma mater, where the videos were filmed. To Buy Merry Christmas, Mr Fields Click Here.
