Monday, November 27, 2023

Valley Winter Song(s)

It's been three years already since we lost Adam Schlesinger, half of the songwriting tandem with Chris Collingwood and motor behind Fountains of Wayne. The back catalogue of that band is still fresh and glowing; fantastic songwriting, well executed.
Fountains of Wayne left us two genuine alt-rock Christmas classics, 'Man in the Santa Suit' and 'I Want an Alien for Christmas', but their 'Valley Winter Song' is probably the best known seasonal track. Christmas isn't mentioned, but the end of December is, and the lyrics are very much in tune with the Xmas atmosphere.

To Twelve is a Dutch duo (Jasper & Olga) who love playing on the streets, and roam the squares and corners of Europe with their camper van. Last year, they did a very fine version of Kacey Musgraves 'Glittery' for a compilation (this one), this year they really outdo themselves with a gorgeous ethereal version of that Fountains of Wayne song, 'Valley Winter Song':

There are more VWS-covers, of course. To Twelve's is by far the best. Most covers stay very close to the original FOW-version, but this a capella version is nice too:
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