Passion Pit's Michael Angelakos releasing a Christmas video album this Friday

Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos announced a Christmas video album, Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields, that he’ll release this Friday (12/16). The album was produced for AKH Productions and it’s being released in partnership with Frenchkiss Records. He teamed with Brent Katz (ex-Harlem Shakes) and director Hana Haley for it, and you can check out the first single/video, “Stained Glass Windows,” below. The album is up for pre-order, and all proceeds will go to charity, as well as the Nichols SchoolArts Department. Here are some more details:

Starting in March of 2016, they shut out the world and put nearly everything in their lives on hold. At first the project was being made for fun, but it would soon evolve into something incredibly personal and representative of their collective growth. Sleep deprivation and the regular routine of writing Christmas songs in the summer heat nearly drove them insane. By the time September came around, pragmatic onlookers could only scratch their chins as the three friends travelled to Buffalo’s Nichols School, Angelakos’s alma mater. This turned out to be the perfect place to film their dreamy World War II Christmas musical.

The three artists gradually saw the confusion of others transform into encouraging enthusiasm, often rivaling their own. With the help of Nichols School, and with only 4 days to shoot, thirty-two children performed roles in a children’s play adaptation of trio’s original story of Merry Christmas, Mr Fields. The adaptation yielded a purer take on the project’s original idea, with characters gorgeously overwritten by the sharp and fussy Katz, and the majestic and bold score marking a tectonic shift into Angelakos’s inner encyclopedia of musical ideas and abilities. Haley’s ornate and compelling visuals are more than additional content: they were created in conjunction with the songs, and both work off each other to create a total experience. The three developed the project’s elements together, and wrapped the project only a few days ago.

The foundational genre touchstones of Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields include 1940’s music (“Weather the Storm,” “Christmas in Your Arms,”) and the classicist’s take on orchestral musical theater (“Permission to Audition,” “And Never Be Afraid”). You can hear Sparklehorse and Grandaddy in the vocal production, and the album’s low-end was mixed like hip-hop (see: Rodney Jenkins). There is a post-Beatles John Lennon and gooey Beach Boys sort of earnestness to the melodies and lyrics.

Tracklist
1.Overture
2.Meet Me at Daphne’s
3.Evergreen
4.Weather the Storm
5.Permission to Audition
6.Footprints in the Snow
7.December to Remember
8.O Holy Night
9.Stained Glass Windows
10.Answer Me, Harry
11.And Never Be Afraid
12.Wake Up, It’s Christmas
13.Christmas in Your Arms
14.Merry Christmas, Mr. Fields
15.Stained Glass Windows (End Credits)