HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER
O Come All Ye Faithful MERGE
MC Taylor declines to participate in seasonal festivities
8/10
As MC Taylor tells it, O Come All Ye Faithful resulted from an epiphany in a Target outlet. Buying wrapping paper during the pandemic-blighted 2020 Christmas season, he was struck by the dissonance between the general mood and the upbeat Yuletide soundtrack berating shoppers through the PA. He resolved to make something more apposite. Some of O Come All Ye Faithful is familiar – the titular hymn, versions of CCR’s “As Long As I Can See The Light”, Spiritualized’s “Shine A Light”, among other covers. New songs maintain the careworn, contemplative mood – “By The Lights Of St Stephen”, a Dylanesque country trundle, especially merits consecration as a carol.