(2021) The Little Unsaid - December Songs  


Review:
Quietly, confidently, The Little Unsaid have amassed a body of work that is the equal of anything in the British folk music scene at this point. Usually a four-piece, the band acts as the songwriting vehicle for South London-based John Elliott, whose dark, searingly personal lyrics and skillfully-turned melodies have invited comparisons with Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell and Mike Scott. July’s release Lick the Future’s Lips saw the band at their most accomplished and varied, treating us to funky basslines, country waltzes, dreamy soundworlds worthy of Peter Gabriel and many unexpected points in between. But for Elliott’s new release, he has pulled something of a u-turn, at least on paper. December Songs, as the title suggests, is a seasonal collection. It is also an entirely solo affair, with Elliott providing a primarily acoustic backdrop to nine original songs and two traditional pieces. The goal is simplicity. In Elliott’s own words, “I wanted to find simple songs that captured the melancholy of this time of year, but also the cosiness, the closeness, the joy of simple acoustic music in a dimly lit room, and the promise of a different kind of year ahead.” It’s obvious from those words that December Songs is far removed from your average Christmas album, but to anyone aware of the autobiographical and often soul-baring nature of the songs on previous Little Unsaid albums, this will come as no surprise. Simplicity does not equate to a lack of musical diversity, and a certain amount of complexity can still be found in the quietest artforms. Elliott is living proof that a well-timed whisper can often be more consequential than a shout, and on December Songs, he takes that aesthetic to its quietly impressive limit. Ebb & Flow (Yuletide!) kicks things off with nimble but restrained fingerpicking, and the delicacy of the vocals, all hushed excitement, brings to mind the better examples of Sufjan Stevens’s Christmas songs, without quite venturing into the more overtly twee territory that Stevens often seems to relish. There is a discernible sense of loss and yearning here, typical of Elliott’s writing. Fine World (When You Can Look It In The Eye) is a more rhythmic offering with a propulsive strum. Think of an acoustic take on the down and out ditties of Richard and Linda Thompson (circa I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight) but sadder and somehow – thanks to the stirring fireside chorus – more hopeful. With its minimal circular pattern of electric guitar, Hermit’s Carol is closer in spirit to earlier Little Unsaid songs, and Elliott’s attention to musical detail is very much on show in the production – there is a wild breath that seems to run through the whole song, and a skitter of cold but beautiful piano in the middle. The brief downtempo piano piece Home Video, with its unnerving background noises, is just as impressive. It seems to serve multiple – and apparently conflicting – purposes. A casual listener might think of it as a stop-gap or a kind of breathing space, a place to rest between the anxieties and complexities of the songs around it. But while it clears the mind, a piece like this can also sharpen the senses and bring what is around it into an even clearer focus. It provides an eerie, liminal view into a dreamlike world that the other songs describe so vividly. Later in the album, 5am Waltz serves a similar function while also standing alone as a stunning yet simple piece of piano music, like something Yann Tiersen might have composed. Sacred Space shows off his skills as a narrative songwriter. The sprinkling of sleigh bells provides a wonderful and slightly uncomfortable setting: there is a touch of irony about a sound that is so blatantly at odds with the melancholic nature of the lyrics, but it is remarkably evocative nonetheless. The mournful, atmospheric December Sun (full of raw, visual imagery in lines like ‘the winter spills like new blood over every act of love’) is an intensely introspective experience. Family Tree is more lighthearted, at least in a musical sense. Lyrically it is a multilayered thing, proving that he can do finely-drawn character studies just as well as soul-searching self-examination (and, in this case, at least, he can do both in the same song). Set on Christmas morning, closer Bodhi Tree is a genuine Christmas song, though it is very much a Christmas song on The Little Unsaid’s terms. There is as much rain as snow, and the whole thing is brimming with sad longing. It erupts at its dramatic conclusion into filth and fire, showing that Elliott is more than worthy of those Waterboys comparisons. Though December Songs is obviously a seasonal album, it is not overbearingly so. Were it not for the inclusion of the two well-known Christmas carols, it would make a perfectly good listen at any time of year. But, perhaps against expectations, those two songs manage to add to the quality of the album. In Dulci Jubilo encapsulates the season’s strangeness, moving in and out of focus, the melody partially obscured by disorienting studio effects. In The Bleak Midwinter is a much straighter interpretation, with Elliott’s sweet and precise singing perfectly matched to Christina Rosetti’s words, which, perhaps more than any other popular carol, manage to combine the pagan wildness of winter with the Christian tradition of the Christmas season. Gustav Holst’s melody is picked out with fluid, unhurried ease on acoustic guitar. Between them, those two carols are cold and uncanny, frosty and fragile, and they tie the album together thematically in a way that makes you wonder why more musicians don’t attempt seasonal collections. What makes this one even more special is that it was mostly recorded live on borrowed equipment, in a matter of days, in Elliott’s flat. The atmospheric hush that is present throughout was born out of the necessity to play quietly for fear of disturbing the neighbours. But despite the limitations (or perhaps because of them), it is hard to see how this album could have come out any better.





Track Listing:
1.Ebb & Flow (Yuletide!) 03:36
2.Fine World (When You Can Look It In The Eye) 04:40
3.Hermit's Carol 03:12
4.Sacred Space 04:20
5.Home Video 01:42
6.December Sun 04:29
7.Family Tree 03:48
8.In Dulci Jubilo 02:54
9.In The Bleak Midwinter 03:34
10.5am Waltz 02:16
11.Bodhi Tree 05:18


Media Report:
Genre: folk-rock, indie-folk
Country: UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits