In the coming weeks, you'll hear lots of artists covering classic Christmas standards, but here's a new take on a slightly more recent tune. East Coast folk duo Fortunate Ones have released a cover of Sufjan Stevens' "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!"
The original version of this track comes from Stevens' 2006 holiday box set Songs for Christmas. Fortunate Ones preserved the joyous mood of the original track with stomping rock crescendos and harmonized cries of "Santa Claus is coming / Hear the banjo strumming." The verses are tender comedowns that build back to euphoric climaxes.
Singer-guitarist Andrew James O'Brien described the track with a statement:
We began searching for a holiday song to record, and we knew that we wanted to keep it fun and upbeat, and didn't necessarily want to record a Christmas standard. There is a quirky, lighthearted timelessness to Sufjan's song and we wanted to bring it into our musical wheelhouse while still maintaining that levity and joy. We tried to capture the nostalgic and warm feeling that the best of the classic Christmas songs have. We had a great time recording this tune (in September!)
Singer-pianist Catherine Allan said:
I've been a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens for quite a long time. His song "The Dress Looks Nice on You" was on the first mp3 player I ever had, and it was subsequently one of the first songs I learned on guitar. His music is so special to me. When I first heard "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks, and it quickly became one of my favourite holiday songs.
Hear the tune below.
UPDATE (12/10, 1:30 p.m.): You can also watch a video for the song at the bottom of the page.
The original version of this track comes from Stevens' 2006 holiday box set Songs for Christmas. Fortunate Ones preserved the joyous mood of the original track with stomping rock crescendos and harmonized cries of "Santa Claus is coming / Hear the banjo strumming." The verses are tender comedowns that build back to euphoric climaxes.
Singer-guitarist Andrew James O'Brien described the track with a statement:
We began searching for a holiday song to record, and we knew that we wanted to keep it fun and upbeat, and didn't necessarily want to record a Christmas standard. There is a quirky, lighthearted timelessness to Sufjan's song and we wanted to bring it into our musical wheelhouse while still maintaining that levity and joy. We tried to capture the nostalgic and warm feeling that the best of the classic Christmas songs have. We had a great time recording this tune (in September!)
Singer-pianist Catherine Allan said:
I've been a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens for quite a long time. His song "The Dress Looks Nice on You" was on the first mp3 player I ever had, and it was subsequently one of the first songs I learned on guitar. His music is so special to me. When I first heard "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks, and it quickly became one of my favourite holiday songs.
Hear the tune below.
UPDATE (12/10, 1:30 p.m.): You can also watch a video for the song at the bottom of the page.