Album, Single and EP Reviews


 

 

  Merry Christmas from Allo, Darlin by Allo Darlin


Merry Christmas from Allo, Darlin cover art

Artist: Allo Darlin
Title: Merry Christmas from Allo, Darlin
Catalogue Number: No catalogue number
Review Format: EP
Release Year: 2008



Tweepop princess Elizabeth Darling does a Christmas EP? Somehow that seems appropriate. The songs here are considerably lighter than your mother's Christmas pudding and considerably cleverer as well.

Don't let the fey ukulele and the practically obligatory glockenspiel (most likely the kid's one in a little plastic case) fool you. There are smart words here. Listening to "SPACE Christmas", it does not take long before you are overcome with sentiment then Ms Darling neatly sideswipes you with a chunk of insecurity - "…I want my gift to be better than those of your old girlfriends". "Will You Please Spend New Years with me?" has that same lightness of feel but again the words suggest emotional fragility. You can't do a Christmas EP without squeezing in a standard. In this case it is "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and it fortunately does not disappoint.

Just as you think Christmas has gone terminally cold and commercial, you get swept away by the sweetness of the contents of this EP and you once more can feel that the world is a better place than it actually is.


www.elizabethdarling.com
Reviewer:
Review Date: December 18 2008