Music Review: Sixpence None the Richer, The Dawn of Grace

By Steve Morley

The alternative-pop band Sixpence None the Richer first found acceptance in the contemporary Christian market, later scoring mainstream success with tasteful remakes of 1980s hits such as  Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” On their first full-length recording since 2002, the reformed band brings their faith as well as their knack for revitalizing well-known songs to an area where those assets are especially welcome: the Christmas album. The Dawn of Grace is a well-conceived cross-section of common, lesser-known and new holiday material that summons the Yuletide mood while adding some imaginative and thoughtful twists.

The wide-eyed wonder in the vocals of Leigh Nash evokes a half-child/half-cherub quality well-suited to the magic of the season. On “Angels We Have Heard on High,” Nash is complemented by an atmospheric backdrop that holds the track aloft despite its anchoring drums and subterranean bass line. Spacious environments are the norm throughout, providing a sonic cushion that gently supports Nash’s airy delivery. Her diction becomes more deliberate on the centuries-old Spanish carol “Riu Riu Chiu,” which lends a dash of multicultural spice and contains an inspirational allegory about a lamb divinely protected from a prowling wolf.

The novel Sixpence original “Christmas for Two” is sung directly to an unborn child, but also offers praise to the Creator for the miracle of new life, biologically and, by implication, spiritually. (“Together we wait for a heavenly gift/ This winter of wonder, enchanted that this is/ The last Christmas/ The last Christmas/ The last Christmas without you.”) Even as the lyric anticipates a first Christmas with a baby on board, it ponders the more momentous birth of Jesus and, in turn, the purpose of our yearly celebration. The song’s position just prior to “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” illuminates the latter song’s depiction of a still-expectant Israel, awaiting revelation of the Savior. Completing the scenario with Christ’s arrival is “Silent Night,” which features a newly composed countermelody sung by Jars of Clay frontman Dan Haseltine. Only the occasional difficulty of hearing the new lyrics intrudes on the song’s otherwise-heavenly peace.

An even stronger set of conceptually related cuts begins, improbably enough, with “Christmas Island,” originally a 1946 hit for The Andrews Sisters. The easygoing track, which proposes a tropical holiday getaway, segues directly into Joni Mitchell’s wistful “River,” expanding the theme to include escaping not only seasonal chaos but also the disturbance that can occur when the hoped-for joy of Christmastime clashes with loneliness and uneasy self-appraisal. (I’m so hard to handle/ I’m selfish and I’m sad/ And I’ve gone and lost the best baby that I ever had/ I wish I had a river I could skate away on…”) The trilogy ends on a warm note with the all-new “Christmas for Two” as a couple cozies up to quietly count simple blessings. (“Here we’ve time to spare, without a care/ We don’t need nothin’ new/ Some mistletoe, a lover’s glow and a table dressed for two/ And I’d rather have Christmas with you.”) In that same spirit, the uncomplicated and intimate sound captured on The Dawn of Grace makes the 10-song collection a brief but soothing respite for seekers of a traditional Christmas inside an untraditional package.     

Audio Clips

"Angels We Have Heard on High"

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

"Silent Night"

"The Last Christmas"