I first heard of Mindy Smith when she recorded that glorious cover of ‘Jolene’, featuring Dolly of course. Her folky, haunting take on it captured me those years ago, but I never ended up getting around to listening further. This holiday season, however, Mindy has released her second Christmas record (her first was the full-length ‘My Holiday’ in 2007), and the ‘Snowed In’ EP delivers exactly what one might hope for from an artist such as Mindy.
Consisting of 3 standards and 2 originals, it’s a sweet mini-collection illustrated by acoustic guitar and mandolin, and seemingly book-ended by Christmas Eve and New Year. Opener ‘Tomorrow Is Christmas Day’ is a gentle but chirpy love letter to childhood Christmases, the magic of Christmas Eve and the mystery of Santa Claus, in an atmospheric folk/bluegrass style that perfectly complements Mindy’s pure and simple vocals. On the other side of the shelf sits ‘Auld Lang Syne’, drawing vocal and musical comparisons to Alison Krauss, in a delicate performance and understated tinkling instrumentation. The slight quivering in her voice, too, is a great match for the Celtic heritage of this classic piece.
Mindy’s cover of ‘Silent Night’ begins remarkably differently, with an organ-esque guitar pedal and effective delay manipulating the electric sound to provide a beautifully subtle and original accompaniment for her stripped back approach. Mandolin enters the fray from the second verse but doesn’t interfere with the simplicity of the performance. Mindy also covers ‘What Child Is This’, replicating the folk/bluegrass style that so works for her on ‘Tomorrow Is Christmas Day’, this time adding fiddle to sweeten the haunting lilt of its sonic composition.
The title track, however, sets itself apart from the other songs on this EP by being able to transcend the holiday season. This country/folk ballad, complete with beautiful acoustic guitar parts and twirling and dancing melody, says that the only thing she wants this Christmas is to be snowed in with the one she loves. It’s not cheesy in the way that it could be, as its non-obnoxious nature makes it a winner for pressing the “repeat song” button, and just sitting back to enjoy.
Christmas is just as much about relaxation and recuperation in this busy world as it is about love and family, and the sounds and styles of this EP are the perfect soundtrack to such an instance, its stripped back production the antidote to in-your-face, upbeat, cheesy tunes. There should be more music like this around, and I know whose back catalogue I’ll be downloading next!
