Ben Folds will release Sleigher, his first ever Christmas album, on October 25 via New West Records. The 10-song collection is built on an eclectic mix of 7 original songs and reimagined classics like Mel Torme and Robert Wells’ iconic “The Christmas Song,” Burt Bacharach’s “The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle,” as well as the Mills Brothers’ “You Don’t Have to be a Santa Claus.” It also features the actress and songwriter Lindsey Kraft on the duet, “We Could Have This.” Sleigher examines the passage of time through the lens of Christmas, reflecting on memory, loss, and longing as it explores the variety of ways the yuletide season marks chapters of our lives. Folds’ performances flirt with the standards while stretching the boundaries of tradition, at times offering up flashes of Vince Guaraldi and Bacharach while still remaining true to his singularly virtuosic brand of off-kilter indie pop. The result is not so much a “Ben Folds Christmas Record” as it is a Ben Folds record set at Christmas, a meditation on the inexorable turning of the calendar and our ever changing selves as observed at the most wonderful — and sometimes challenging — time of year.
Sleigher was produced by Ben Folds and recorded by Joe Costa in Nashville and Los Angeles. It follows his’ 2023 studio album, What Matters Most, which was met with universal acclaim. Of that album, NPR Music said, “It’s a collection of often profound, often comical songs about the mess of life, powered by Folds’ gift for storytelling and keen observations on the small, universal moments in life that make us human…” MOJO awarded it 4 Stars, saying, “What Matters Most is near flawless; a whole semester of song-craft in 40 minutes.” Like What Matters Most, Sleigher draws its inspiration from everyday observations, from the little moments that sear themselves in your mind far deeper than the “big” ones do.
Today, Variety premiered Folds’ rendition of “The Christmas Song,” as well as “We Could Have This" (featuring Lindsey Kraft).” Read the feature about Sleigher HERE.
“Christmas is constant,” says Folds. “Allowing you to take stock of what’s different, to understand who you are and all the ways you’ve grown and changed.” He continues, “There’s something about Christmas that really pushes you to ask, ‘Who am I now? How did I get here?’ You can look back on Christmases from your childhood and see the progression, or you can zoom out and look back at Christmas songs from the ‘30s and ‘40s and ‘50s and see we’ve evolved socially and culturally. Having that consistent framework is really illuminating. I love those holiday classics that are totally broad and timeless, but I’ve only ever been able to be myself, and I realized the most generous thing I could do with this album was write the best songs I could, no matter where that took me. Anything else just wouldn’t ring true.”
Ben Folds is also currently on the road throughout the end of the year on his Paper Airplane Request Tour. During each performance, the audience is encouraged to send song requests to the stage via paper airplanes. A fan favorite, the show has become a must-see since originally launching in 2017, and will be the first time audiences can experience the songs comprising Sleigher live. Please see tour dates below.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Folds first rose to fame in the mid-’90s with Ben Folds Five, whose acerbic, genre-bending take on piano pop helped define an entire era of alternative rock. After scoring multiple hit singles and a gold record with the band, Folds launched his solo career in 2001, releasing a series of similarly acclaimed albums that would firmly establish him as one of the most ambitious and versatile songwriters of his generation. In 2010, he teamed up with celebrated author Nick Hornby on a collaborative record titled Lonely Avenue. In 2014, he composed and performed his first piano concerto for the Nashville Symphony & Nashville Ballet. In 2017, he became the artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center (a role he fulfills to this day), where he began curating a series of performances marrying contemporary artists with symphonic orchestration. In 2019, he released his New York Times best-selling memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs; and in 2021, he launched the Lightning Bugs podcast, an interview series on creativity and process with guests as diverse as Jon Batiste, Sara Bareilles, Rainn Wilson, and his close friend Bob Saget. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, Folds also revealed himself to be a prolific photographer with gallery shows in the US and Europe, appeared onscreen in films and television (most recently playing himself in three episodes of the hit Amazon Prime series The Wilds), composed music for a 25-minute stage adaptation of Mo Willem’s Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (which premiered at the Kennedy Center and was featured on PBS), and serves on the boards of the Arts Action Fund, the Nashville Symphony and Planet Word, an immersive museum in Washington, DC, dedicated to celebrating the power of language. In 2023, Folds was nominated for an Emmy for his composition and performance of the theme song to the Apple TV special It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown. In 2022, he launched Keys For Kids, whose mission is to provide much needed financial grants and keyboards to existing nonprofits that are offering free piano lessons to young people from economically-disadvantaged households in his native state of North Carolina. Since its inception, Keys for Kids has been working with seven nonprofit organizations in all regions of the state that reach children in both urban and rural areas. In its first two years, Keys for Kids raised and disseminated over a quarter of a million dollars in grant money and over 100 keyboards to these nonprofits, which in turn have been able to provide ongoing free music lessons to over 700 young people who otherwise would not have been exposed to music education.
Sleigher will be available across digital platforms, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited & autographed “Rudolph Red” Color Vinyl edition will be available exclusively at Barnes & Noble, while a limited & autographed “Coke Bottle Clear” vinyl edition will be available at Independent Retailers worldwide. An autographed compact disc edition will also be available. A limited & autographed “Evergreen Green” vinyl edition is available for pre-order NOW via NEW WEST RECORDS.
Sleigher Track Listing:
1. Little Drummer Bolero
2. Sleepwalking Through Christmas
3. Me and Maurice
4. Christmas Time Rhyme
5. Waiting for Snow
6. We Could Have This (feat Lindsey Kraft)
7. The Christmas Song
8. The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle
9. Xmas Aye Eye
10. You Don’t Have to be a Santa Claus
Ben Folds On Tour:
September 24, 2024 - Salem, OR -Elsinore Theatre
September 25, 2024 - Olympia, WA - Washington Center for Performing Arts
September 27, 2024 - Bremerton, WA - Admiral Theatre
September 28, 2024 - Bellingham, WA - Mount Baker Theatre
September 29, 2024 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Arts Live at the Pantages Theater
October 4, 2024 - Sioux Falls, SD - Washington Pavilion
October 5, 2024 - Duluth, MN - Decc Symphony Hall
October 6, 2024 - St. Paul, MN - Ordway Music Theatre
October 8, 2024 - Wausau, WI - Grand Theater
October 9, 2024 - Madison, WI - Orpheum Theater
October 10, 2024 - Carmel, IN - The Palladium- The Center for the Performing Arts
October 12, 2024 - Des Plaines, IL - The Event Center at Rivers Casino Des Plaines
October 13, 2024 - Ft. Wayne, IN - The Clyde Theatre
October 15, 2024 - Midland, MI - Midland Center for the Arts
October 16, 2024 - Marietta, OH - The Peoples Bank Theatre
October 17, 2024 - Johnston City, TN - ETSU Martin Center for the Arts
October 25, 2024 - Washington, D.C. - Ben Folds: Recorded Live with the NSO in the Concert Hall
October 26, 2024 - Washington, D.C. - Ben Folds: Recorded Live with the NSO in the Concert Hall
November 1, 2024 - Springfield, MO - Gillioz Theatre
November 2, 2024 - St. Louis, MO - The Factory
November 3, 2024 - Bloomington, IL - Bloomington Center for Performing Arts
November 7, 2024 - Buffalo, NY - University at Buffalo Center for the Arts
November 8, 2024 - Ithaca, NY - State Theatre of Ithaca
November 9, 2024 - Kingston, NY - UPAC
November 10, 2024 - Beverly MA - Cabot Theater
November 12, 2024 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Paramount Theater
November 13, 2024 - Morristown, NJ - Mayo Performing Arts Center
November 15, 2024 - York, PA - Appell Center for the Performing Arts
November 16, 2024 - Philadelphia, PA - Penn Live Arts/ Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
November 17, 2024 - Raleigh, NC - Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts
November 19, 2024 - Winston-Salem, NC - The Ramkat
November 20, 2024 - Newberry, SC - Newberry Opera House
November 22, 2024 - Orlando, FL - The Plaza Live
November 23, 2024 - Tampa, FL - David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts - Ferguson Hall
November 24, 2024 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - The Parker
December 2, 2024 - Nashville, TN - Schermerhorn Symphony Center
December 4, 2024 - Naples, FL - Hayes Hall
December 10, 2024 - Houston, TX - Jones Hall
December 11, 2024 - Austin, TX - ACL Live at the Moody Theater
December 12, 2024 - Dallas, TX - Majestic Theatre
December 14, 2024 - Fayetteville, AR - Walton Arts Center
December 15, 2024 - Shreveport, LA - The Strand Theatre
December 17, 2024 - New Orleans, LA - The Fillmore
December 18, 2024 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
December 19, 2024 - Huntsville, AL - Mars Music Hall
December 21, 2024 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre
