Currently on the “Christmas Offerings” tour with fellow rockers Third Day, the multi-platinum and three-time GRAMMY®-Award wining band Jars of Clay is celebrating the resounding success of their debut Christmas CD, Christmas Songs.

Also the band’s first project on their newly launched label Grey Matters via Nettwerk Music Group, “Christmas Songs” is receiving mass critical acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, USA Today and many others.

USA Today assesses 12 tunes from 2007 that might have some staying power, including Jars of Clay’s original, Hibernation Day. “With its counterpoint vocals from Christine Dente and lyrics that extol the virtues of cocooning in blankets that “make a cozy little cave just for two,” this gently swaying number from Jars’ Christmas Songs disc could be the morning-after follow-up to Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

”... an eclectic mix of songs – from carols popular and obscure to originals that reflect the sometimes contradictory tones of the season… there is plenty of joy in this mix, too, from the hopeful “Peace Is Here” to a welcome reworking of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.”
The Dallas Morning News

“For a Christian rock act a Christmas album isn’t merely a novelty or a cash-in; it’s a chance to bring together old sacred songs with new (and sometimes secular) ones. So it goes on “Christmas Song,” from Jars of Clay… There is a sleek version of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem” gets a warm-and-buzzy makeover. Fans who want a more theological experience can seek out “Peace Is Here: Christmas Reflections,” the companion hardcover book.”
The New York Times

“Indeed, Christmas Songs is a wonderful little album, with a version of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” that miraculously doesn’t make you want to bang your head against a wall until it bleeds, and a perfectly majestic original called “Peace Is Here”, which sounds like something Lennon might have written were he still around. The crowning achievement here is an electronic take on the standard “O Little Town of Bethlehem” which changes the melody entirely, in the process re-establishing the solemnity and quiet majesty of the song. It’s hard to say that Christmas Songs will be remembered for years from now, but for right now, it’s refuge from the bombast of the season, a perfectly subtle slice of Heaven.”
PopMatters

“The earnest Christian outfit brings an appealing, electro-pop shimmer to God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and O Little Town of Bethlehem. A few moments drag, but snuggly originals Hibernation Day, Winter Skin and Peace Is Here have a bit of a Beatles vibe.”
Houston Chronicle

Photo: Kharen Hill. Location: Surrey, BC. Outwear purchased at West Edmonton Mall

As the only artist on the R&R Christian AC Monitor chart with two of their own Christmas songs in the Top 30, the singles from “Christmas Songs” are also receiving great support from Christian radio. Love Came Down at Christmas jumped eight spots this week from #30 to #22 at R&R AC Monitor, and “Wonderful Christmastime debuted on AC Monitor at #29.

Jars of Clay recently provided a captivating hour of holiday music on national TV with the world premiere of the Gospel Music Channel’s Christmas at Union Station: Jars of Clay. The special will also be shown throughout the month of December. In addition, the band performed songs from “Christmas Songs” on the December 8th episode of The Logan Show, and will be on REMIX TV on December 22nd, sharing their favourite Christmas cookie recipe and shopping secrets.

Christmas Songs, together with the book Peace Is Here: Christmas Reflections, is now available at your local Canadian Christian retailer.

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