Kelly McGrath - O Holy Night
Kelly McGrath’s voyage through the world of
popular music has thus far established her as one of the pre-eminent singers
working today and a fine songwriting talent as well. Her gift for
interpretation, however, will now have to be respected thanks to her newest
single, a cover of the longtime Christmas standard “O Holy Night”.
This performance will likely rank, for many years to come, as one of the more artful holiday releases you’ll hear. McGrath’s accessible yet technically appealing and emotive voice expands the scope of its interpretative powers with this track as the structure of the performance makes it so that her voice is the focal point for listeners. The sparse musical arrangement supporting her is quite by intent – McGrath’s take off point for the song is Jeff Buckley’s famous version of “Hallelujah” and McGrath achieves a similar feel without ever sounding remotely imitative. The performance is, as well, tailored to an ideal length and manages to uplift listeners while, also, affording her audience a glimpse into her heart.
This performance will likely rank, for many years to come, as one of the more artful holiday releases you’ll hear. McGrath’s accessible yet technically appealing and emotive voice expands the scope of its interpretative powers with this track as the structure of the performance makes it so that her voice is the focal point for listeners. The sparse musical arrangement supporting her is quite by intent – McGrath’s take off point for the song is Jeff Buckley’s famous version of “Hallelujah” and McGrath achieves a similar feel without ever sounding remotely imitative. The performance is, as well, tailored to an ideal length and manages to uplift listeners while, also, affording her audience a glimpse into her heart.
The reverb driven guitar work makes for a great
counterpoint to McGrath’s voice. It’s played with the same patience and taste
characterizing McGrath’s vocal and has a slightly rough air of gravitas that
doubles down on the seriousness of the song’s moment. There’s a little light
keyboard color hovering over the track that’s an effective addition. McGrath
includes a bit of bass to shore up the absence of a drummer and it’s a shrewd
move – it’s easy to admire the skeletal elegance of the arrangement, but it’s a
performance likely to waft a little too much if she opted to forgo any sort of
rhythm section accompaniment. The truly beautiful thing about the song’s
musical arrangement is how McGrath achieves a nearly painterly control over the
song’s cumulative effects. It works its magic slowly, inexorably, and you soon
find yourself transported elsewhere.
Much of the credit for that transportation,
ultimately, resides with McGrath’s vocal performance. She inhabits every line
of “O Holy Night” as if the tune were an original and there isn’t a hint of any
unproductive levels of respect in how she presents the song. McGrath clearly
entered the studio with a clear vision of how she wanted this song to come out
because it is underlined in each minute of the track and her singing
constitutes a vivid exclamation point on the cut. Kelly McGrath can move in
multiple worlds; she’s quite able to entertain a wide cross section of the
music listening public with emotive and relatable performances while still
maintaining a fierce artistic spirit that illuminates her craft with a vivid radiating
light.
This is much more than just an entertaining Christmas cut – this is, also, an essential addition to McGrath’s discography.
This is much more than just an entertaining Christmas cut – this is, also, an essential addition to McGrath’s discography.
Alonzo Evans
