Jherek Bischoff is in the holiday spirit! The singer-songwriter has a Christmas album, appropriately titled Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire Walk With Me. The new album follows the same music style as the television show Twin Peaks, with the soundtrack scored by composer Angelo Badalementi. According to Noisey, the album contains six classic Christmas songs, “White Christmas,” “The Christmas Song,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night.” The revamped versions are both haunting and beautiful. Like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, it is appropriate to listen/ watch on both Halloween and Christmas. Stream the album below.
This past year, Bischoff collaborated with Amanda Palmer for covers of songs ” “What a Wonderful World” and Pink Floyd’s “Mother” along with its video. Bischoff provided the orchestral arrangements for both covers, keeping the haunting but chilling style. The two eventually got to play London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC’s David Bowie Prom, following their Bowie tribute album Strung Out In Heaven, released shortly after Bowie’s death.
As a solo artist, Bischoff last released his 2016 album Cistern, which was first recorded in an empty two million gallon underground water tank. In an interview, he stated that the experience recording in a water tank was “an unexpected journey of rediscovery, from the city back to the Pacific Ocean” Stereogum called the title track of the album a “triumphantly building orchestral piece with a truly fascinating backstory” and “an incredibly majestic piece of work”.