Ben Caplan Reimagines 'O Holy Night' in New Single

Ahead of the holidays and his next full length record (slated to release in March 2021), contemporary folk songwriter Ben Caplan (he/him) has shared his latest single "O Holy Night." Unlike the quaint yuletide classic that many know it as, Caplan's rendition of "O Holy Night" is a decidedly dark and baroque cut that nods to the songwriter's signature Eastern European folk sensibilities and features his rugged low voice.

"We all know it's pretty hard to ignore the Christmas season," says Caplan. "There are some truly beautiful songs and carols out there, but they are often super cheesy. I wanted to try to make something that tip-toes towards the sublime rather than shopping mall easy listening. I am super proud of how it turned out."

Recorded over two days at Daniel Ledwell's Echo Lake Studio and Halifax's Fort Massey United Church, "O Holy Night" features a huge crew of musicians, including Donald MacLennan who re-harmonized the song and played violin, and composer Peter Togni who wrote the arrangements and played pipe organ. The song starts relatively simply and subdued, but builds to an enormous crescendo with a big ensemble performance including woodwinds, string quartet, and more, as seen in the performance video debuting alongside the single.

"It was a huge effort to bring this into the world, but I shouldn't take too much credit. I owe a lot to my collaborators." states Caplan. "I want to dispel the myth of the lone genius. It took a lot of people with a lot of talent to pull this off. I'm just the one who pulled it all together. Consider it my Christmas present to you."

Caplan's "O Holy Night" is available now on all major streaming services. Listen HERE. Along with the release of the track, Caplan will be hosting a live Q&A session today at 2pm ET on his YouTube channel.

Watch the video here: