Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3 | Amazon.de MP3 | Amazon.fr MP3
When Sydney’s Middle Kids dropped Lost Friends back in 2018, that was one of my top-5 records of the year. The goodwill generated within me based on that record alone… well… it is pretty substantial. Thus, when I saw they had dropped a Christmas single, I was pretty excited. Would I like it to be an original song? Yes. However, as this song is less ubiquitous in the States, this version may be the first time you hear “Driving Home for Christmas.” If so, then you’re in for a treat. Middle Kids add nice touches to the song, such as the textures that (if I’m not mistaken) the slide guitar adds throughout. It is a lovely production, from the vocal to the warm bass lines, and perhaps most especially… the shortened run time. I aaaaallllways appreciate a brief Christmas song that doesn’t drag, and they chop off more than a minute from Chris Rea’s original. Middle Kids have surely scored a solid cover, now let’s see what they can do with their own material!
Bottom Line: An extremely solid cover of a UK-Christmas classic. Might be an Australian classic too… because you know… colonialism. Did you know that the Chris Rea song came out the same year as Australia gained full independence? 1986!
Christmas Underground 