43 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy The Christmas EP here
Buy The Christmas EP here (UK iTunes)
Brits may not be overly aware of amazing American singer songwriter Jon McLaughlin but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take the time this holiday season to check out his beautifully produced and wonderfully engaging festive EP. Appropriately titled The Christmas EP, it's the perfect introduction to his heartfelt style of performing and will provide the soundtrack to many memories at this most wonderful time of year. Ideally it should also lead new listeners to check out his back catalogue, almost like the gift of music that keeps on giving. What you get on The Christmas EP is five songs delivered with heartwarming conviction that will help even the grinchiest of Scrooges get in the mood for the next six weeks (and give you a dopamine boost that will keep you going well into the new year)...
It all kicks off with a jazz infused Jingle Bells that's rich with a rollicking piano riff and resonant vocals from Mr McLaughlin himself. There's a vibrant energy to the performance including that shuffling percussive groove that makes you want to click your fingers and shimmy along to the intoxicating production. The piano cascades like delicately falling snowflakes in the chorus and Jon sounds nothing less than exuberant from start to finish. Next up is his original composition Merry Merry Christmas Everyone - a celebration of letting go of the stresses that the year has wrought to focus on the magic that this time of year inevitably brings. The lyrics are instantly relatable, describing the nuances of Christmas that everyone will at least partially recognise, bringing the listener inextricably into the track as co-conspiritors nodding along to every observation. It's mellfluous, languid melody sits effortlessly alongside the classic numbers demonstrating a writing style that will endure through the ages. His take on Away In A Manger is sincere and earnest in it's delivery, his voice seeking out the humility within the lyrics. Again, the live sounding score is exquisite and gives the song an elegiac elegance that is both uplifting and reverent. His voice really is a dream to listen to and suits a whole variety of genres and tempos without skipping a single beat...
Christmas Saved Us All sounds like the type of exquisite ballad that permeates the all important Christmas chart in the UK at this time of year. It's pure pop at it's heart yet imbued with the sentiment of the season and the redemptive power that it seems to have over the bad things in life that all too often occupy our time. The enchanting piano is exquisitely surrounded by jingling bells and glistening sleigh sounds that conjure up images of crisp white snow falling outside whilst you snuggle up by a roaring fire (or basically any scene from the movie The Holiday with it's picture perfect English winter). It's almost like a living piece of art to accompany your journey from now until Christmas Day, a reminder of the good things that can happen. The EP closes all too soon with the evergreen The Christmas Song. Here Jon is as cool as any rat packer singing the song in days gone by - his warm assured vocal gliding around the melody with a consumate grace. The listener can imagine him in a tux, shirt sleeves rolled up, bow tie hanging loose round his neck, playing the piano and pouring every ounce of emotion into the performance. Glorious. A splendid EP from a gifted young chap. Essential.
Ghosts of Christmas past:
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