Proof that Christmas songs don’t have to always be bold and boisterous or banal and bland singalongs, designed to be howled and shouted and massacred in the name of forced participation and false cheer. No, when in the right hands, such holiday songs can be delicate and heartfelt, musically deft and lyrically eloquent.
Kramies is the right pair of hands, and his latest release, “That’s a Midwest Christmas,” is one of those rare things—a Christmas song as well-wrought as anything you will find doing the rounds of the understated pop world the rest of the year.
Forged of spacious acoustic guitar cascades, the song is full of all the expected seasonal imagery but concentrates on the simple act of everyone returning to the family home for the celebrations. With such understated sonics at work, it is the lyrics that become the focal point. Lyrics that are gentle and heartwarming, humorous and nostalgic, a celebration of the place you are from, even when you are now perhaps only an occasional visitor.
It is a Christmas song that favors reality and relatability, honesty and humor, and heart over throwaway images and cliched lines. Wow, whatever will they think of next?
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