So Elated

So Elated’s Christmas album, The Bewildering Light, is indeed bewildering. The Ben Thomas-led band shows glimmers of promise but somehow lets it leak away through so many of the songs.

The album opens with “Zechariah and the Least Expected Places,” a thoughtful and haunting song that tells the story of Zechariah and his initial unbelief that his son was ever going to be born. It is rare to hear the story of John the Baptist’s birth on any sort of Christmas album, and it is a gorgeous reminder of how God’s plans are set into motion far before we can see or imagine any of them. The song is a beautiful meditation on the unexpectedness of God’s generosity, and how He keeps “slipping out from underneath rocks and alleys off the beaten path.” The song ends with a simple plea for God to “open both our eyes,” and sets this album up for a smashing success in the vein of Sufjan Stevens, Derek Webb and other lyric-driven indie artists.

And as the album continues, it is the original offerings that are far and away the highlights of the collection. “God is With Us” ponders the name given to Jesus at his birth, and wonders just exactly what that would have looked like. What would happen if God really was here on earth with us? What must Mary have been thinking at that moment. Layered over a piano and guitar duo, the song simply says, “God is with you / God is with us too.”

“Eastern Star” focuses on the Star of Bethlehem, asking it to continue guiding everyone out of “the blades of grass and sins of my past” on the path towards this baby Jesus. It is a fresh, original look at humanity’s search for God.

Despite the brilliance shown in these three songs, the rest of the album sadly drags along. The more traditional Christmas songs are given a half-hearted treatment here, and it distracts from the Christmas ideal the album is clearly aiming for. For instance, the simple guitar-driven rendition of “The First Noel” clocks in at a painfully long four and a half minutes. It seems like the band got lost while singing the song and just forgot how far they had gotten in the song.
“Greensleeves” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” are instrumental-only takes on the songs, which add nothing to what we’ve heard for so many years.

“O Come All Ye Faithful” is the only well-known Christmas song to have a beautiful, organic arrangement, but as the album’s closer, it could have had a bit more heart to it as well. It ends with a ‘Welcome-To-Christmas-Eve-Service’ choir sing along, which brings a touch of organic celebration to the close of the album. But I was left wanting more!

This album shows a lot of great promise for Ben Thomas and company, but also still a lot of room to grow.

Tagged as: So Elated, The Bewildering Light

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