Category: Singles/Tracks

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Arny Margret “Happy New Year” (2024)

One Little Independent Records
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3 | Amazon.de MP3

I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. After coming across Icelandic singer/songwriter Arny Margret through her wonderful 2022 holiday duet with Asgeir, “Part of Me,” she was fully on my radar. So when I got the Bandcamp notification for a new record, I am going to check it out. I Miss You, I Do comes out in March, so you can imagine my distress when I saw the closer was called “Happy New Year,” and it wasn’t the first preview track for the record. I simply assumed that I was going to have to circle back in the spring and stash a track for next year. But no! Arny dropped a second preview track with plenty of time for Christmas mix consideration. “Happy New Year” has that blanket of melancholy that, if you read this blog, you know I’m a sucker for. However… the turn at the end is so satisfying and hopeful, as the orchestration expands and Arny’s voice raises – that I could see this track finishing off a mix beautifully.

Dang. I want this whole record pretty bad.

Bottom Line: I’m not sure if I’m happy for a new year, but I’m certainly happy for this song.

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King Hannah “Blue Christmas” (2024)

City Slang
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | Amazon.uk MP3 | Amazon.de MP3

I do not get excited for covers of “Blue Christmas.” I have heard a million versions… and rarely do I enjoy them. Liverpool duo King Hannah has somehow done it. Simply said, their voices sell it for me… how well they meld, how nicely they part, the warmth of their tone. Take away one of them from the mix, and the song is just another song. Definitely check out their non-seasonal music, which is damn good and might just distract you from working on your Christmas mix.

Dammit. Back to work.

Bottom Line: One of the nicest versions of a boring song I’ve heard in a long time. That sounds like a backhanded compliment, but truly, this is a great version… you’re just talking to someone who has heard this song too many times 🙂

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Cheetah Cheetah Bison “A Little More Christmas” & “December” (2020)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Amazon MP3 | 7Digital MP3 | Apple Music

A random song in my email. A casual click on a link. VIRUS! EXPLOSION! Wait… that didn’t happen – just wanted to add to the drama. My head bobs, my feet tap… I love this song. Who the fuck is this guy/band/mystery? Well, it only took me a year to properly follow up and figure this shit out. Cheetah Cheetah Bison happens to be Andrew Kerr, who can also be found in the NYC post-punk band Grassfight, as well as his country project Rabbit Montgomery. Grassfight released a couple EPs in the 2010’s and their full-length LP, Vampires, in 2023 (though it was recorded 10 years prior). As for the Cheetah Cheetah Bison moniker, this is pandemic Andrew. In a fantastic, stream-of-consciousness response to my random questions, Andrew explains, “Early into the pandemic in 2020, I realized I was going to have some real time off at home, so I dusted everything off and decided I was going to get into the world of solo stuff and see what happened. I’m very blessed to be able to play most of the key instruments, so I said hey why not.” Why not indeed. “A Little More Christmas” is an affirmation, singing out from the depths of the pandemic. Along with the season synths of “December,” Andrew was feeling the spirit in 2020: “It just felt right releasing some sort of positive project, given everyone’s mood about the possible end of the world.” I feel it, man. I wish I had heard these then… those were dark times.

For some reason “A Litte More Christmas,” gives me My Morning Jacket vibes – hell, they should cover this! Make Andrew some money! I like to imagine these big bands (or more likely, their managers or interns) mining this blog for Christmas album material. Hell, I’m happy to take on a consulting fee! Ha!

Bottom Line: You never know where you’ll find wonderful Christmas songs. The world is a wonderful place. Look… I’m even feeling optimistic now. Crazy shit.

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UPCOMING: The Cords “Favorite Time” (12/06/2024)

Slumberland/Heavenly Creatures
Buy: Bandcamp (Digital/Flexi)

I’ve previously written about how much I look to Scotland (this was just a few posts ago!) for excellent Christmas tunes. The Cords are an excellent indiepop duo from Greenock, Scotland, and this upcoming track has a high probability of being excellent. Normally I might wait to review the track before sharing it here – but as there are flexis available now – and likely not for much longer – and I felt I should let you all know ASAP. So, check out The Cords, decide if they are your jam, and buy it.

Hat tip to @noloveforned for the heads up on this one.

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Here’s a non-holiday release to check out the band.

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The Reed Conservation Society “Funny Christmas” (2020)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Discogs (Vinyl)

As we enter the darkest timeline, I’m going to do my best to keep moving. I’m going to provide support to those around me (you all included), and do my part to make this world just a little bit better. I’m going to try to redirect my anger and sadness and be constructive… and boy is that going to be hard because nothing seems to matter. That is going to be me on a good day. Lets hope the good days outnumber the bad.

So, on that note, let’s talk about a lovely song about depression at Christmas! The Reed Conservation Society is a French duo who for some reason has me thinking about Village Green Preservation Society-era Kinks. It could just be the “…servation society” similarity, but the orchestration is the same ballpark for sure. Throw in the Clientele as a touchpoint as well and now you’ve got an idea of where I’m going. The protagonist begins by eating oysters, cheese & crackers alone, and buying themselves “new pillows for my old dream into the sea.” The song might sound sweet, with lines like “Feeling so good to be alone now. Cheers to me, cheers to me, cheers to me.” Though follow that line with “I’ve got a special gift for free. / Médicine pills / angels talk slowly,” and everything takes on a much darker tone. It sure sounds like someone is finding a way out…

I must say, this is a lovely song. Without getting a little insight from the band, I might have thought this song was the happiest “I’m alone at Christmas” song I’d ever heard. I couldn’t quiiiite make out all the lyrics, which also kept me from knowing the true intention of the song. So… perhaps I will stick with that interpretation. Once an artist releases a song out into the world, we are all given a chance to interpret the song our own way. Perhaps “Funny Christmas” is a good barometer as to how I’m doing from day to day – is today going to be lovely and full of “David Crosby singing just for me,” or dark as fuck? Pretty much a toss-up – does today end in Y?

OF NOTE – I’m waiting on an email back from TRCS

Bottom Line: A very pretty or very dark Christmas song… a choose-your-own adventure of sorts.

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BumbleWasps “Don’t Fuck with Christmas” (2024)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I’m attempting to take my mind off the election by listening to Christmas music this evening. So when I popped over to Bandcamp… seeing a familiar face was fucking great. Shrewsbury, England’s BumbleWasps is back with his wonderful brand of cheeky bedroom pop, serving up perhaps his sweetest Christmas song yet. “Don’t Fuck with Christmas” is indeed a rather aggressive title, but in practice, it hopes to make the most of Christmas… you only get one day each year, so don’t let the pressure of the holiday fuck you up. The song itself is damn catchy – an earworm that you can’t sing in polite company. Earworm… mantra… two sides of the same coin, both useful distractions from reality.

Don’t fuck with Christmas.
Don’t fuck with Christmas.
Don’t fuck with Christmas.

I feel a bit better.

Bottom Line: BumbleWasps has what many don’t – a consistently original POV on Christmas music, and this may be the best one yet.

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There Will Be Fireworks – No Christmas Bells / This Christmas Is Forever (2023)

The Imaginary Kind
Buy: Bandcamp

This blog started off pretty preoccupied by Swedes (and their neighbors), but has moved around the globe to French Canada and Australia of late. There is one country that I keep a particular eye on though… Scotland. When Scottish bands release a Christmas song, nine times out of ten… it’s fantastic. I’m thinking Kid Canaveral, Frightened Rabbit, Pictish Trail, Randolph’s Leap, Annie Booth, U.S. Highball to name few. This entire post would be a list of names if I let it get away from me. Thus, when There Will Be Fireworks dropped their Christmas single last year, I took note (I should have written about it then… but I am not a machine!). If you aren’t familiar with There Will Be Fireworks, they are big, emotional indie rock in the vein of Frightened Rabbit/Twilight Sad/We Were Promised Jetpacks. That’s a recipe for success in my book. Not a new band to me, as they featured on a very early mix of mine, 2010’s Write About Christmas, with their excellent song “In Excelsis Deo.” Initially only available on Avalanche Records’ Alternative Christmas compilation, you can now grab this great track on their excellent Because, Because EP.

Side A of this Christmas single, “No Christmas Bells” begins with a Sigur Ros-esque piano melody, setting an emotional scene that is only heightened by lyrics that are honestly, getting me a bit misty as I write. I tried to think of a lyric that I’d want to highlight… but fuck it… I keep changing my mind. The entire song is below. Let’s listen along.

This weather’s getting old
And Tinseltown is grey
And work, it gets me nowhere
I need a holiday

But the Christmas lights are on
In the home that we have built
And the love that we’ve put in it
Is all that matters still

And it’s not like me to say this
And I know you never asked
But you know you are the greatest
And there’s a time for saying that

When the kids are in their beds
And the tv flickers on
And we stumble round the kitchen
Dancing to those Christmas songs

I’m done with looking back
There will be time for that
A movie reel of memories
Shines golden through the black

Next year will be our year
I feel it in my bones
But for these short few hours
For once we are alone

No Christmas bells are ringing
No star in Glasgow’s sky
No choir of angels singing
But who needs that tonight?

If this is all there is
It’s all there needs to be
A simple quiet moment
Unfolding happily

Damn. It really gets going in that second verse and doesn’t let up. Why is it that you hear a song one day and are completely fine… walking the dog… just listening, then hear it another day and you are in fucking tears. I never claimed to have this be a real musical review blog… this really has always been an emotional review blog. Anger, sadness, anxiety, nostalgia… those are my references, the tools of my trade. Christmas music is just the vessel I suppose.

Now… can I maintain and talk about the back half of this single, “This Christmas is Forever?” I’ll give it a run. This song is a quick snapshot of a loving family at Christmas. I’m tempted to post the lyrics here as well… but instead, drink in this stanza that sets up the dramatic finish – it is so damn great.

And maybe I’ll sing a little thing
Some half-remembered hymn
It’s here and it’s gone
But aren’t we all?

Do you have a family to share this Christmas with? Well, this song will tear you up. Are you without a family to share the season with? Well, this song will tear you up. These guys are laser-focused on your heart, so don’t press play if you sometimes cry at commercials and you happen to be in public.

All proceeds go to Social Bite, which provide meals, gifts and essential items to homeless and vulnerable people. Easy purchase.

Bottom Line: There Will be Fireworks are back in the game with a 1-2 punch of beautiful, heartfelt Christmas songs.

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Winten “Holidays” (2023)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Wow. Rip you heart out. Winten’s “Holidays” is a deeply emotional song about the emptiness one feels after a breakup. It is simple and direct, with these short little moments that, while you haven’t specifically lived them before… you have. The emotion conveyed by (Bridgette) Winten’s voice is perfection, both surgical and fragile in equal measure. She gets in there… it is spooky.

The holiday connection comes in the last verse:

And do you remember two days before Christmas?
Houses were glowing like they knew things
But you don’t live there anymore
I’ll always be here and you’ll be somewhere.

Nobody gets out of this life without a few wounds along the way. This song captures this so, so well.

Bottom Line: This one is gonna get a few folks where it hurts.

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Eyes Lips Eyes “Slept In Through Christmas” (2011)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Every so often I’m going to highlight a song that some of you may have missed, often from years ago. Hell, throw in a pandemic and it feels like a lifetime ago. Provo, Utah and/or Los Angeles’ Eyes Lips Eyes “Slept in Through Christmas” is simply a damn fun song. Angular guitars, handclaps, jingle bells, and a baseline that will get you grooving enough to reach your movement goals. Gotta keep your figure so you can ruin it over the holidays. I don’t think the band is still together, as their social media hasn’t been updated in years… but time marches on for us all. Some groups disband and delete everything, and thankfully this is not the case so far. “Slept in Through Christmas” was featured on my 2018 mix, How to Solve Our Christmas Problems, and if it hasn’t been on your mix yet… well, what are you waiting for?

Bottom Line: Great, upbeat Christmas songs are like finding gold in a stream. This one glows – so grab it.

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Brave Baby “It’s Christmas Time… Oh Yeah” (2012)

Self Released
Buy: Soundcloud (Free!)

I want to stress to folks who submit songs and records… I can’t promise I’ll get to your song this year, next year, or any year. I will very likely listen to it pretty quickly. I will digest it. I will live with it. I might get so crazed that I must write about it immediately. I might let it sit around for a few years, then put it on a mix… and still not write about it. I can’t tell you what gets me to write a post, nor when. I’m just one guy, with limited time, looking for that hook to get me writing about Christmas music.

So… all that said, this song from 2012 – I discovered it last week. I haven’t been sitting on it for 12 years… but you know I mentioned the need for a hook? Well… in this post, that’s the hook! The hook is the hook! I don’t make sense. But this song does! Charleston, South Carolina’s Brave Baby crafted a clever song from Santa’s perspective, with cheeky (slightly-dated, “Sears??”) lyrics and a rollicking, familiar chorus. “It’s Christmas Time… Oh Yeah” isn’t as happy as the title (and my initial description) suggests, with lyrics about reindeer who have passed and children who are alone at Christmas, but the chorus kicks it up to a high enough gear to leave you feeling like the song was a good time. Hey man, I just dug it… the oddly dark lyrics, the echoey vocals, and the indie rock casual attitude… this is most definitely a recipe this site supports.

It always surprises me when a song like this can elude me for 12 years…

Bottom Line: A clever, free original for clever, free people.

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