Ben Folds Announces 1st Ever Holiday Album ‘Sleigher’ & Shares 2 Tracks

Ben Folds detailed his first-ever holiday album, Sleigher, due out on October 25 through New West Records. The pianist and singer-songwriter previewed the collection with both a holiday classic, “The Christmas Song,” and an original, “We Could Have This,” the latter featuring Lindsey Kraft.

Following his acclaimed 2023 album, What Matters Most, Ben Folds produced Sleigher with engineer Joe Costa in Nashville and Los Angeles. The 10-track album is comprised of seven originals and three holiday favorites.

“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,” as per press materials for the holiday record. “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.”

Folds also commented on Sleigher:

“Christmas is constant. Allowing you to take stock of what’s different, to understand who you are and all the ways you’ve grown and changed. 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.”

Premiered by Variety, original “We Could Have This” sees Ben dueting with actress and songwriter Lindsey Kraft. Variety also shared Folds’ rendition of the iconic Robert Wells and Mel Tormé-penned “The Christmas Song,” which features a classical guitar arrangement. Listen to both tracks below:

Ben Folds’ beloved Paper Airplane Request Tour continues this fall. Scroll down for itinerary and ticket info.

Sleigher Tracklist:

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