Danny Gokey - Christmas Is Here

58 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy Christmas Is Here here (Amazon UK)

Folks in good ol' Blighty (Great Britain) might not know that Danny Gokey was a contestant on American Idol (back in season 8 which seems like forever ago). He's since carved a career for himself as an adult pop singer whose music is infused with contemporary Christian influences. This is actually what makes him so ideal to release a Christmas album - every good festive music release should have an element of the fun, buoyant nature of the season but also focus on the true meaning of the most special of days. Danny's Christmas Is Here pulls off that balance with panache and style, a vibrant performer where he needs to be while demonstrating humility and reverence the songs deserve in those quiet, more reflective moments. It ensures that there really is something for everyone and the result is an album that can and will be enjoyed for many Christmasses to come...

What better message to kick the album off with than the song What Christmas Means To Me?! Jingle bells, finger clicking grooves, effusive horns and a vibrant live sound all set the stage for the production values of the song (and the album as a whole). Danny is straight in there with an effusive vocal that has a soulful tinge to it (meaning he accentuates the r'n'b origins of the music). He couldn't sound more joyful and triumphant if he tried, letting his ad-libs and singing play off the music and embrace the exhilaration that this ebullient opening number effortlessly provides. He barely has time to catch his breath before he's sing about how It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. He takes what is traditionally a very old-school Hollywood movies style number and jhuzzes it up with that intoxicating organic live band sound he introduced on the first track. Danny's glee at being able to sing songs that clearly have a personal meaning and memory for him is not only tangible but positively infectious. The backing vocalists (from the opening "ding dong"s to their gospel inspired support during the choral refrain) provide a warmth and texture to the song that Danny absolutely thrives in (actually the backing vocalists are uniformly excellent throughout the album).

White Christmas is our first opportunity to experience Danny is a slowed down setting and the results are entirely mesmerising. Predominantly just Danny, a delicate piano and a shuffling percussion, the staging of the song allows Danny's sincerity and belief in the lyrics shine through like the brightest star in the firmament. There's some truly intricate and elegant piano work to match his singing, particularly where he sings of children playing in the snow (noting how the piano changes tempo ever so slightly to reflect what has been sung). It's always more inspiring as a listener when the music feels like an equal duet partner, as valid and satisfying as when the choir joins in leaving you on a giddy high ready for more. Mary Did You Know follows and brings with it a dramatic and grandiose instrumental that lets Danny share a heartfelt and impassioned vocal. It's as if the spirit and sentiment of the song embody his very being as he becomes at one with the stirring score. The intensity and urgency of his questioning pleading is palpable and creates a charged atmosphere that mirrors the search inside us all for the answers we require in life. It's bold but ultimately uplifting and life-affirming. Talking of life-affirming, the lead single from the album Lift Up Your Eyes has the unenviable task of following MDYK but more than holds it's own. It's a celebration of the birth of Christ and what His life meant to people who followed his teachings. It's the most out and out pop moment on the album which reminds me of the halcyon days of Amy Grant and Michael W Smith ruling the Billboard charts. The chorus is spectacular and succeeds gloriously in its task to edify and inspire. Perfect antidote to whenever you are feeling down and lonely at any time of year.

Somehow there's little more indelibly festive than The Christmas Song. Danny uses the canvas of the music to paint vivid brush strokes with his rhapsodic and melodic delivery of the lyrics, conjuring up pictures of roaring log fires, families laughing together, couples cozied up watching their favourite holiday movies. There's an aura of thirstful aspiration to the song as Danny guides us around those well known words with a mellifluous elegance. It's a song I never tire of and miraculously this makes me fall in love with it all over again. Christmas Is Here becomes a convivial singalong with a bouncy lyrical instrumental and jubilant island grooves that are effortlessly matched by Danny's effervescent vocal delivery. You'll find yourself tapping your feet and singing along whether you want to or not - and it really does make for a fine way to get yourself in the mood for the colder days and darker nights. In fact you could consider this (and the next song) the musical equivalent of turning those lights on your tree for the first time and letting those childlike feelings of wonder back into your life once again. This trilogy of seasonal cheer concludes with This Christmas. It's the final tip of the hat on the album to the contemporary celebrations that happen year after year, when ill will and resentments are cast aside for peace and harmony - exactly as it should be. Once again, Danny proves himself quite the engaging performer, throwing himself into the words and music with a wild abandon that's all kinds of contagious.

The final two songs of the album take on two classic carols that are resonant in the solemnity of the occasion. O Holy Night is sung with a hushed deference for the uplifting testimony delivered through those awe-inspiring words. The backing vocals coo behind the music as if a choir of angels were singing along in harmoney, and some rich and emphatic piano chords add to the sterling production values. Similarly, Give Me Jesus, adds an aura of celestial worship - and closes the album with a musical prayer that we all do better throughout the year rather than just for a few days. Danny has delivered something for everyone here that matches all moods the most wonderful time of the year brings. Quite, quite lovely.

Ghosts of Christmas past:

• 28th October 2014 ~ Seth Macfarlane, Holiday For Swing
• 28th October 2013 ~ Owl City, Lights of Christmas