Jesu - Christmas EP (2010)

So it's December, and with December comes the onset of the madness that is the holiday season, complete with a commercial soundtrack as ear-splitting as nails on a chalkboard. To combat this, Jesu (Justin Broadrick's shoegaze project, for those that have been living underground recently) have released the 'Christmas' EP, a download-only EP "inspired by the onset of the Christmas period and the onset of emotions and feelings of nostalgia, joy and sadness that the period often evokes". The three-track EP consists of the title track and two remixes from Broadrick's other projects: Pale Sketcher and FINAL.

'Christmas' fits right in with the usual Jesu sound. Heavy droning guitars and methodical drumming pummel the listener, while ambient sounds give the track that comforting shoegaze feel. The clean, barely discernible vocals sweep in and out like a lullaby. About 2/3s of the way through, acoustic guitars and bells overtake the fuzz, before the drums take back over near the end. This interlude is strange; it gives the album a slight Agalloch feel, but seems out of place. While the track doesn't fully live up to his earlier works, it's a good output.

The Pale Sketcher remix is only five minutes long; plodding acoustic guitar melodies over noise and choir voices are the vessels of the track this time. While it's an interesting take on the title track, it honestly does nothing for the overall value of the EP, and I feel the quality would have been better if it just skipped right to the FINAL remix. The FINAL remix is sure to have its share of critics. Its fourteen minutes make up almost half of the total EP. But for the noise and dark ambient fans, it is the best part of the EP. Broadrick puts on his drone glove and stretches his fingers as far as seams will hold. When the acoustic guitar comes in, it feels more at home here droning over a bed of distortion than it did as an interlude. The final four minutes bear an interesting brightness/melancholy that fits the themes of a cold December winter. This feeling is what I believe Broadrick was going for throughout the EP, but is really only found here.

While this isn't the best Jesu's been, the EP is worth the download to hear the title track, and especially to revel in the FINAL remix. For those that would prefer a hard copy, a CD and vinyl version are planned, although they have not been confirmed yet. Here's hoping everyone has a beautiful winter, and enjoys whatever holidays/festivals/solstices they celebrate.