Christmas is often a time of getting gifts, wrapping gifts, visiting friends, and preparing rather large meals. It's a busy time when one should be relaxing, watching the snow fall as loved ones enjoy the warmth of a fireplace, candles, and the company of each other. And listening to gentle, soothing songs that evoke memories of simpler times. That feeling is felt throughout the hauntingly brilliant Snow Came Falling, a Christmas album by Woolwich, Ontario-based folksinger Carla Muller. It's an album inspired by her father and family and epitomizes Christmas at its essence.
"I wanted to make a Christmas album for my dad, with some of his favorite songs on it," Muller says regarding Snow Came Falling's origins. "And I did, although it was only really a demo album. It had some of the songs we still sing together every Christmas Eve, as a family. A few years passed, and I wrote 'Snow Came Falling' for my daughter Charlotte. In the time since, I've written a few more, and this collection of songs has seven original songs I have written with three talented songwriters: (the late) Sean Cunnington, Mark Lalama, and Jason Fowler."
open.spotify.com/album/7l1UF7UsJHf6QSwu5VZTt6
Snow Came Falling, produced primarily by Muller and Julian Decorte (who was also the mixing and sound engineer), is a gorgeous, gentle, soothing 12-track effort showcasing Muller's comforting, cozy vocals often backed by sparse but special acoustic instrumentation on well-crafted nuggets such as "Go And Find Him" and the timeless "Huron Carol."
A handful of selections are performed in German and German and English including the dazzling, hymnal-leaning "Weißt du Wieviel Sternlein Stehen / Heaven’s Sky" which features a children’s choir. The German portion is a song Muller's father sang to her and her siblings growing up, while the latter half was a lullaby Muller wrote recalling how her father, a leader of the Sunday school choir at her church, taught his children to sing. Muller used a six-member children's choir led by choir director Quisha Knight to "capture the needed enthusiasm" for the track.
Perhaps the most inventive offering is "Leise, Rieselt Der Schnee ("Softly Falls The Snow") which features "a Hawaiian guitar, steel drums and a key change in a chorus of aahs" which is a rarity for the German Christmas classic.
Equally impressive is "Snow Came Falling," a previously released single Muller says came from getting to and from Guelph General Hospital before and after giving birth to her daughter Charlotte during a heavy snowstorm. The roots-folk flavoring is highlighted again by Muller's lovely approach and arrangements that are uplifting but not busy in terms of instrumentation. And the tender, moving "I Can Hear The Bells," penned by Muller and Cunnington, is a stellar reminder that not everyone has someone to be with this time of year.
"It wound up taking three years to make, as I just couldn't get the sound right," Muller says of "I Can Hear The Bells." "I myself have found comfort in the words years after the loss of my friend (Cunnington died from Covid in 2020) and only a few short weeks after losing my sister this October. It's about faith, that things will be all right again. That life goes on. And to remind us that there will always be Christmas."
Snow Came Falling, mastered by David Travers-Smith, was recorded at Toronto's Canterbury Music Company and released through M.I.C. Productions. Aside from Muller who provided lead vocals, backing vocals, piano and co-arranged songs, other core musicians on the album include Jason Fowler (acoustic guitar, backing vocals, co-producer on the opening "Once Upon A Christmas Eve” and “Sirens Of The Snow"), Mark Lalama (piano, keyboards, accordion and co-producer on "Go And Find Him” and “Chasing A Star"), Rob Piltch (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Ross MacIntyre (bass, upright bass) and Gary Craig (drums, percussion).
Additional musicians and arrangers on Snow Came Falling include arranger Scott Metcalfe, cellist Kevin Fox, pianist Robbie Grunwald, violinists Drew Jurecka and Jessica Deutsch, backing vocalists Melanie Conly and Jason Fowler, woodwind musician Ernie Tollar, steel drums percussionist Joy Lapps and percussionist Davide Direnzo.
Snow Came Falling is the latest release from Muller who grew up in Waterloo, Ontario, and was surrounded by music from her family and grandparents. Muller has released some beautiful singles in recent years, including "Christmas At Home," "Another Morning After" and "The Last Two Years." She has also previously released Christmas-related singles with partial or all proceeds going to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. She has also been hard at work on "The In-Between Project," writing and creating material with some of the best musicians from the Toronto and Niagara regions, which would consist of over 90 original songs.
Now with a warm, heartfelt, and soothing Christmas album in Snow Came Falling, Carla Muller can know this collection of blissful originals and standards effortlessly touches the soul at the most wonderful time of the year.
