Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp
Portsmouth, England’s Hotel Lux dropped a nice jangly sing-along Christmas cracker last year, and like many things in life… I missed it. The song is very English, with some references to Nigella (which I assume to be English chef and writer Nigella Lawson) that may be lost on us stateside, and a sing-along chorus purpose-built for shouting out down at the pub. Hotel Lux’s lead singer, Lewis Duffin, excels in the milieu of talk-singing post-punk (e.g. Art Brut), and this song does perhaps highlight that he’s not going on The Voice anytime soon. But fuck, neither am I. The character of his voice is what matters, and the creaks in those boards aren’t a bug, but a feature, as I detest perfection. The song came together quickly with what I have gleaned was some gratis studio time for a charitable purpose (Shelter, a UK homelessness charity), and you can actually see the process in one of the videos posted below. It is rather fun to watch the song come together. Hopefully, they’ll grab some more time to record another this year, as this is actually their second Christmas single, following 2019’s “Stop the Calvary.” Lean into this guys, I’m here for it.
Bottom Line: A solid pub singalong that gets better with subsequent listens.