BWW CD Review: Todd Almond's A PONY FOR CHRISTMAS Is One Last Christmas Gift You Owe Yourself This Season

It's Christmas Day and everywhere people are preparing for a day of activity, whether it's a slew of people coming to dinner, a trip out to supper, or a day of sitting on the sofa drinking wine, eating bourbon balls, and watching Die Hard, Gremlins, and Love, Actually. At some point during the flurry of activity, there will come a moment of quiet from the humans in the house when a bit of music is called for; maybe there will be a lower-key portion of the party when some music that isn't full of a children's chorus or jingle bells in the background, or there could be a lone walk through the park, enjoying the afternoon sky, listening to Spotify on Bluetooth. When that moment comes in each person's day, they are going to want to use one of the digital platforms to buy or access Todd Almond's holiday album A PONY FOR CHRISTMAS.

Trust me.

A few days ago, all Christmas music'd out, I was poised on a Heavy Metal crawl on the Pandora station at the gym where I work, weekday mornings. If not that, a little folk-rock might have done the trick. Instead, I took my sanity into my hands when my friend Abbie Getty urged me, "You HAVE to listen to the new Todd Almond Christmas CD!" I admit that I called A Pony For Christmas up on Spotify with some kind of grudge, dreading yet another version of "All I Want For Christmas" or "River" (both songs I have loved but my tolerance for them is being tested), and, from the word go, Todd Almond had my attention. Was this a holiday album? Yes, the opening number was titled "Maybe This Christmas" but it felt like I was playing some Cat Stevens, some John Denver, some Chris Isaak - in short, Todd Almond was speaking my language. For the rest of the night, I played A Pony For Christmas on repeat, and I've been listening to it ever since.

Todd Almond has created a holiday CD so original (indeed, with lots of original compositions!) and interesting, yet so filled with heart and holiday spirit, that it belongs on everyone's 'best of' list. He doesn't pander to the listeners, doesn't patronize, doesn't compromise his artistic aesthetic in the name of holiday sales. With one of the most pleasant and individual vocal instruments on the music market, Mr. Almond sounds just like the folk-rock singers we all grew up with, and he leans into the sound with compositions and arrangements that fit like a woolen winter glove. Listening to his opening track "Maybe This Christmas" and a special recording of "Little Drummer Boy" conjured visions of my youth in Ohio, when the family home was in the middle of a four-acre forest, when the snowfall piled up as high as seven feet, and the family bundled by the fireplace watching Patricia Neal in The Homecoming. The homecoming vibe here is palpable, in all of Mr. Almond's artistry as a vocalist and songwriter, especially on a single instrumental track titled "Christmas Eve." There is, though, a sense of whimsy and fun about the CD, too, particularly on Almond's self-penned "Welcome Home" (from his musical ODYSSEY, a wonderfully jazzy track with great rhythms and horns) and "Ponies" (which is not a Christmas song but is, instead, from his original musical IOWA - but it is a Christmas gift, in all its quirky, musical splendor).

It is, in fact, in his own compositions that Almond achieves his greatest successes on the album, for, in spite of noteworthy recordings of "O Holy Night," "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and (yes, even) "River," it cannot be denied that when singing his own lyrics, his own melodies, Todd Almond rises to heights that will move people to think, to feel, and to reflect on the importance of new music, new artistry, and new points of view. Even this worn-out, Christmas-weary man who was struggling to get into the spirit of the season after so difficult a year, was lifted up into a hopeful place, all through the power of music... Todd Almond's music, one of the last Christmas gifts to which all should treat themselves this year, to be enjoyed year in and year out.

Todd Almond A PONY FOR CHRISTMAS is available on all digital platforms and at the Todd Almond website HERE.

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