No relation to Wintersong, an equally brilliant though thematically different classic album by her fellow Canadian Sarah McLachlan, Laila Biali’s Wintersongs celebrates not the holy, tinsel filled holiday, but the beauty of season itself from a unique artistic perspective.
From the hypnotic, piano, orchestra and angelic vocalese, driven opener “Drifting Down Ice” through the charming and lyrical, Vince Guaraldi inspired “Winter Waltz” (an instrumental reworking of the French chanson she released in 2023 as “Belle nuit de Noel”), it’s a musical window into the splendor of winter as experienced and channeled by a singer, songwriter and pianist inspired by the stunning nature around Alberta’s Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where she has enjoyed independent residencies.
The aforementioned tracks, combined with tunes like the ambient piano/vocal piece “Outside” and “Rocky Mountain Lullaby,” a lilting, poetic homage to the majestic peaks of Banff National Park featuring the whimsical flute of Jane Bunnett, might ease listeners into a sense that this project is all about dreamy reflection.
Yet Biali breaks that reverie with the exhilarating, inspirational percussive choral jam “Keep On Moving” (which manages to be angelic and earthy at the same time) and the high energy instrumental fusion tune “Dance of the Pines,” a showcase for Biali’s emotional vocals and Bunnett’s explosive soprano sax.
Testament to Biali’s desire to break all norms expected of a winter album is the fact that the one traditional piece, the trumpet-graced closer “Jesus He Is Born” is refashioned as a jazzy instrumental in the hopes of creating space and bringing it out of its colonial roots as “The Huron Carol,” thereby continuing the important work of Wendat artist Andree Levesque Sioui.
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