Kelly Finigan: A Joyful Sound - Review

Christmas is a time of year reserved for spreading joy, and Huey Morgan dispersed his very own version of it last week through the airwaves of his 6 Music show. “A Joyful Sound”, Kelly Finigan’s 2020 Christmas Record, arrived with me via a string of chinese whispers. A second-hand word of mouth delivery, packaged and stamped initially by my mate’s boss who had tuned in, then shipped to me within 3-5 working days of the Fun Loving Criminal’s recommendation.

A Joyful Sound is the third full-album production in two years from Kelly Finigan. Customarily a frontman, usually of West Coast-based outfit Monophonics - a group acclaimed for their rich arrangements - he resumes chief creator status with this solo offering but has repositioned his group’s cinematic output into eleven festive songs of his own, culminating in a record that sounds like a revival of retro soul.

The californian has swapped warmer climates for wintery ones, embarking on a seasonal sleigh-ride of soul originals, heavily decorated with instrumentals that could be pulled straight from the late 60’s and 70’s. It’s a record laced with Motown, Funk, Jazz and Blues.

The title track and album opener invites you into a mystical place of reverie with the jingle of distant sleigh bells that ring throughout and the far-away chatter of children and the chiming of clocks and incantations delivered by Finigan’s very own Christmas Angel: “You can feel it in the air…a joyful sound…won’t you come with me…I’ll take you there…”. It’s an other worldly experience magnified by oriental-sounding strings that graze the surrounding music in a way similar to the strings on Curtis Mayfield’s ballad “The Makings Of You”.

Elegance quickly morphs into exuberance as Finigan romps through “Heartbreak For Christmas”, the Charles and Eddie inspired feel-good standout. It’s an ear worm that will keep you coming back for more. 40% Christmas cheer, 60% Funk and Soul.

Finigan slows things down again with “No Time To Be Sad”, a string-laden ballad, and the results are cinematic. There’s sweeping horns and strings that rise to a bond-like crescendo, punctured only momentarily by stabbed guitar chords and a quavering vocal that signals a break into the verses. It’s Black Keys-esque in it’s formula. Finigan’s vocals bear shapeshifting qualities and it’s a theme throughout the record. Here he croons like Paolo Nutini and wails like the late Charles Bradley.

“Just One Kiss” follows and feels like a shot in the arm and a shot of whisky to heat you in up the cold. It’s unapologetic Motown and dashes through the snow and scampers through the Christmas market and sounds like the Christmas song The Four Tops forgot to write. If it wasn’t already good enough, there’s a sublime foray midway through into the depths of a New Orleans underworld, with trumpets and pianos and a drum solo that would merit the spotlight in a Damien Chazelle film and thrusts you head first into a bar on Royal Street in the French Quarter.

The two step is left behind and in it’s place comes a slow dance in the form of “Waiting For The Big Man”, capturing the magic and nostalgia of a traditional Christmas ballad. It’s the one you’d play by the fire for your Bing Crosby moment, the one you’d play to your darling. There’s even a jazz flute solo but after you’ve managed to lower your eyebrows from their raised state, you realise it feels befitting to a song as sweet as this.

“The Miracle Is Here” resurrects Otis Redding for four minutes and is accompanied by heavenly gospel backing vocals. The dreamy tranquility of “To Be Young At Christmas” is as stylish and assured as something off Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”.

Disappointingly, the album doesn’t close with the same degree of invention in which it opened and as the final four tracks roll around, there’s a sense that Finigan’s running out of steam. There’s a crazed, fairground ride feel to the verses of the stalkerish “Santa’s Watching You” which could easily be the soundtrack to Hunter S Thompson’s drug-riddled cruise through the Nevada desert in Fear and Loathing but at the same time, it also feels like filler.

It’s a take it or leave it ending to what’s otherwise a record stocked with some real moments of brilliance. But then has anyone ever made a flawless Christmas album?