The High Plains Drifters may take their name from a Clint Eastwood western, but there’s nothing about their music that suggests cowboys. The band’s new single “Alone on Christmas Day” is a meaningful contribution to the ever-growing library of Xmas-focused tracks that are part and parcel of the music world during this time of the year. More importantly, however, “Alone on Christmas Day” is an impressive addition to the band’s growing discography following 2021’s Songs of Love and Loss and should curry favor from both the band’s longtime fans and newcomers alike. The New York City-based outfit scores and scores big with this track.
The stylish subtleties driving this track announce themselves early on. Greg Cohen and his bandmates adeptly weave keyboards, synth, and low-key guitar contributions together in a sleek tapestry of sound and the vocals provide a crowning touch. There’s a generous apportioning of humor present throughout the lyrical content, but it’s never crude or overly obvious. The presiding spirit of this track is intelligent and confident, but you never get any sense that the Drifters are shooting over the listener’s collective heads.
Relating to this song is an across the board certainty. The High Plains Drifters have seized upon a subject that few, if any, listeners won’t connect with, particularly as it’s essentially a song about unrequited desire, and their aforementioned method of delivery is ideal for building such ties. The production further highlights the track’s abundant strengths. It is clean with clear separation between the instruments, yet the band ties every loose end together into a coherent arrangement that listeners will readily appreciate.
The song’s music video emphasizes humor. It isn’t too cheeky, however, and conforms to the same intelligent slant that defines the songwriting. The promo clip isn’t perfunctory DIY nonsense either as the High Plains Drifters embody the same stylishness in their visual presentation present in the arrangement as well. It isn’t an empty viewing experience, however, as there’s a great deal of thought obviously underpinning the music video.
It isn’t every band that consistently improves with each new release. The High Plains Drifters, however, can claim that mantle as each new release shows ongoing growth, and “Alone on Christmas Day” is no exception. They’ve written a song that isn’t explicitly tethered to the holiday either as the new single achieves an universal resonance. It testifies to their gifts as individual songwriters and a band.
It isn’t the last that we’ll hear from these four musicians. The High Plains Drifters originally came together through a bit of magical happenstance, but they’ve cohered in short order into one of the indie music world’s finest acts. You get the distinct impression hearing this single that they’ve only begun tapping into the wellspring of their gifts.
That’s a heady thought. They don’t take themselves too seriously, the bane of many bands and songwriters, but that doesn’t mean they come across as flippant or off-handed. Far from it. The High Plains Drifters’ “Alone on Christmas Day” is the real thing.
Mindy McCall
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