Polyphonic Spree to release holiday album

The Polyphonic Spree will unveil its first holiday album this fall with the release of 'Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays Volume One,' the group's first full-length release since 2007's 'The Fragile Army.' The album includes ten standards, two original instrumental compositions, and a cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's classic "Happy X-Mas (War is Over)," and will be released October 23 on Good Records Recordings and Kirtland Records.

With 'Holidaydream,' Polyphonic Spree sought to channel the holiday season's full range of moods, from joyous to melancholy. Arrangements are twisted, like on the spacy, shape-shifting "Do You Hear What I Hear" and "Silver Bells" (featuring School of Seven Bells), and melodies are morphed, as on an ethereal "Winter Wonderland," but the spirit of the holidays remains firmly intact. The album was produced by Knife and Fork's Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey, Frank Black) and The Speekers (The Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter and Julie Doyle).

The album is the product of a decade of Polyphonic Spree annual holiday variety shows, which have featured break-dancers, tap-dancing grandmas, bell choirs, comedians, zoo demonstrations, and even a Dickens-inspired play with acting from the musicians themselves. The band released one holiday track "It's Christmas" in 2011, which made Entertainment Weekly's "Must List."

The Polyphonic Spree, renowned for its high-energy and theatrical live performances, will take 'Holidaydream' on the road this fall with shows in Los Angeles on December 8, New York on December 15, San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia (dates TBD), and Dallas on December 22. Toys and canned foods will be collected at each show to benefit Toys for Tots and the North Texas Food Bank.