Aaron Espe - Making All Things New (Toys R Us Holiday Commercial 2015)

54 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy Making All Things New here (Bandcamp)

Christmas commercials aren't just about encouraging consumers to buy gifts at a store anymore. Instead, there has been a shift to selling an emotion and tapping into a sentiment that accentuates the feel-good nature of the holiday season. These are usually a story that doesn't actually feature much of what the store is selling but helps you feel all warm and fuzzy about going into said store to do some serious damage to your credit card. Quite honestly, I'm all for it - particularly as most of these commercials come with a wonderfully edifying soundtrack to elevate your spirits. One of the first to be released this year is the Toys R Us Christmas Tree tale. In it (above) you see a lonely old man whose house is devoid of Christmas merriment and cheer. Luckily for him, two local neighbourhood kids come along and decorate a tree for him in his front garden. What happens next is enough to restore your faith in humanity - because actually we still live in a world where a message of love, acceptance and harmony is still very much needed. Providing the perfect soundtrack for this glorious tale is indie-folk singer Aaron Espe with his mellifluous song Making All Things New. It's not a Christmas song, per se, but it certainly encapsulates the optimism and possibility that the month of December seems to invigorate within people. It's set to a delicate guitar riff while a gently shuffling percussion adds shimmering sleigh bell sounds - together, as intricate and exquisite as a elegantly falling snowflake. Aaron sings of the redemptive power of love and how your home & family (even and especially the family you choose in life) will always renew that sense of chance and possibility to wipe away past mistakes and start anew. He has a lovely, earnest and sincere singing style that really enhances the narrative which he weaves and flows beautifully on top of the instrumental that he and co-writer Doug Waterman have so lovingly created. It's no wonder that Toys R Us picked up on the song - it's the equivalent of an all-encompassing hug and just as effective. Gorgeous.

**Ghosts of Christmas past**

• 1st November 2014 ~ Mariah Carey, Merry Christmas (20th Anniversary)
• 1st November 2013 ~ Chris Mann, Home For Christmas