42 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Winter Stories (Maybe This Christmas) here (Harriet's website)
Is it really only two years since Harriet elegantly sashayed onto the music scene with her instantly timeless song Afterglow? Her songs have already left such an indelible legacy on people's lives that you would swear they have soundtracked your fondest memories and soothed your moments of sorrow for far longer. Her voice warms like a mug of hot cocoa on a cold winter's day and delights like an old friend paying a surprise visit. It's no wonder then that her star continues it's ascendancy with Paul O'Grady and Graham Norton firmly rooting for her much-deserved success. Following on from two stunning singles this year (Fly and Love Will Burn - both in the running for my top song of 2015) and a Cover Stories collection, Harriet is back with producer Steve Anderson to expand her 2014 EP, Maybe This Christmas, into a full album of Winter Stories. It is a beautiful selection of songs that encapsulate the emotions of the season with wistful melancholy uplifted by the permeating touching themes of hope, optimism and faith in a better year ahead. Harriet doesn't just sing the emotion, she imbues it in the listener and transports them to a place and time in their own memory. Through studied and meticulously place instruments that complement and augment the beauty of Harriet's voice, this is a collection of songs that remind you of Christmas gone by, enrich Christmas present and be the most giving gift for many Christmasses to come.
(It's worth noting at this point that as much thought and detail that has gone into the selection, production and performance of songs has gone into the packaging of the various CD packages you can buy from Harriet's website - see link above. It takes me back to the halcyon days of when CDs were the main way of getting music and they would often come with posters and liner notes. I would pour over the lyrics to make sure I was singing the right words, see who was singing backing vocals and who wrote the songs. It was as pleasing an experience as listening to the music and Harriet brings that back with these packages. I urge you not to just stream or download these songs but to make the physical CDs part of your lives. You'll be glad you did)...
- Maybe This Christmas ~ the opening track to the album is a testament to the combined song craft talents of songwriters, Harriet, Steve Anderson and Judie Tzuke, that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the evergreen standards the album offers up. I've always admired those who can create a seasonal number that evokes every nuance of the season, that will endure through the years and that's exactly what is offered up here. Lyrically, it feels like the answer to "why do you celebrate Christmas so early each year" - imparting that despite all the things that can go wrong in life there is still a luster of beguiling spirit in the December months that can edify even the most bereft of souls. Sure it's easy to mock that the shops start stocking presents in October and that I start listening to festive music and watching classic Christmas movies in November, but I just want the season to last as long as it possibly can, reflecting some of it's glory into my own existence. Maybe This Christmas puts those sentiments to words and music with a consumately dainty melody that glistens like the shiniest of baubles on the most heavenly of decorated trees. Harriet touched my very soul with this one and it's left a stain that will enlighten and nourish me for many moons yet...
- All I Want For Christmas Is You ~ covering the 21 year old Mariah classic is a gutsy move. You have to do something pretty special to make it stand out from the still-utterly-thrilling original version that finds a new audience year after year. Harriet is not one to do the ordinary and takes the effusive structure of the original, examines it's architecture and turns it into a sweetly yearning ballad. It starts with a fragile piano that creates a tremulous atmosphere, as if Harriet is tentative about putting her wish of the titular refrain out into the universe. She sings with an evocative passion that follows on nicely from Maybe This Christmas and before you even realise it, the piano-vocal mix has been textured with a dreamy percussion and ever-so-gentle backing vocals that feel like the angels giving her the courage to continue the song. Cleverly, without an increase in volume, her vocal becomes more confident and emphatic until it coalesces into a stirring middle-eight that really brings the message of the song home. It certainly tugs on your heartstrings. Those final moments, where the choir wrap her voice in beautifully harmonised vocal magic, are more persuasive and affecting than a Debbie MacComber Hallmark movie. Just lovely.
- December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas) ~ What Harriet proves here is that she is not just a performer of pop music, she's an investor in it too. What I mean by this is that she clearly researches the song, looks at the placement of words, studies how the music can provide an unspoken narrative companion to the lyrics that she sings. She then, as has been so sublimely evidenced with all her songs to date, pours her entire being into making that song her own. She extrapolates the emotions and builds on her own experience to provide a vivid vocal that tells more of a story than just the words and music ever could. It's musical alchemy at it's finest and surely a gift that's not just for Christmas. December Song is a wistful, melancholy piece of music that radiates with the glimmer of hope that Christmas brings. Surely in a world so horrible things can be a little bit special if only for the one day is the message here and it is presented with an earnest yearning by the young lady herself. Accompanied by a lulling piano chord arrangement that feels as delicate and fragile as a singular falling snowflake yet resonates as clearly as a vast winter wonderland, Harriet sings the more reverent parts of the song with a somber incantation that accentuates the solemn majesty of the season. She's nothing but warm hearted longing on the parts of the song where the illusion of Christmas, the notion that it can heal all wounds albeit just for a while is the motivating wish fulfilment of the beautiful words - and she brings this into vivid focus with that mesmerising voice. She brings a childlike wonder to her delivery that would melt the most stubborn of hearts particularly as she's devastating and yet life-affirming with those words and the cadence of her vocals. The song starts and ends with these textured harmonies that feel like the actual response to dreaming of Christmas, like somehow the purity of song has traversed through the mists of time to grant a wish to deserving folk. Just breathtaking.
- Grown Up Christmas List ~ I loved this song ever since it appeared on Amy Grant's Home For Christmas CD ( & has subsequently been covered by Natalie Cole, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Babs Streisand, Michael Buble, Clay Aiken, Aretha Franklin and many others)... The challenge for Harriet and Steve is to bring something new to the table - a challenge they rise to with admirable dexterity. Harriet is always at her best when positioned as the post-fairy tale ending Disney princess, the heroine who learns that happy ever after is indeed a bumpy road but, despite the obstacles in her way, one she vows never to give up on. There is a world weariness to her from tough life experience but never at the expense of continual optimism and hope. In fact, set to a peerless production, Harriet's voice is full of wided eyed wonder as she recalls the Santa of her childhood. As she declares her more mature Christmas yearnings, a swelling orchestral section flows along side her passionate pleading for a harmonious world. The nuance of both vocal and instrumental intonation is a joy to hear unfold and breathes a genuine longing into the song. The inspirational, soaring, triumphant final chorus is a real breathtaking, goosebump moment and imbues you with honest to goodness festive spirit. If the world was as beautiful as this version of the song, then it would be a real Christmas miracle...
- Silent Night ~ there are times when only the lyrics of a song and a poised and tranquil voice are needed. Silent Night is perhaps one of the most simple, yet effective ways to tell the story of Christ's birth. Harriet's a cappella version is wholly astonishing. It starts off with just her vocal that has an acoustic effect to it that conjures up images of Harriet singing this in a huge outdoor cathedral while the congregation remain enraptured. It's the type of vocal that stops you in your track, makes the world fade away and draws you in with it's gracious artistry. (I don't know how to do gifs, but if I did then the moment at 26s in this video would visually capture what I'm trying to describe here). Verse two adds in layers of vocal harmony that underscore the gravitas and humbling nature of the well worn words in a new, illuminating way. It makes you really pay attention to what is being sung - something we oft forget to do when a song is entrenched in our psyche as this one is. The celestial power of the song continues as additional singing is woven into verse three, the voices as glorious as any instrument. I mentioned this in my Kylie Christmas review but it is worth repeating here - if this was a traditional vinyl release, this would be a fitting end to side one, just as the next track would be a fitting opening for side two.
- Last Christmas-Can't Smile Without You ~ now this is how you take two completely disparate songs, merge their sentiments and knit the musical essence together so that it feels like they were always meant to be one song (take note X Factor). The well known piano chords of Barry Manilow's Can't Smile Without You are the ideal pensive setting for Wham's heartbreaking lyrics. A swelling orchestral section and shuffling jingle bells add to the sorrowful festive feel (because is there any time of year where emotions - both good and bad - are amplified as much as at Christmas). Harriet shares her wistful feelings of dolorous despair in a way that makes this one of the most exquisite laments you'll ever hear. It all works so well that when she skilfully sidesteps into Barry's lyrics in the middle-eight, it's a fitting addendum to the Last Christmas story. Now did anyone else belt out the words to Can't Smile Without You as this played, like some crazy The Voice sing-off duet or was that just me?! (Can superfans Graham Norton, Malcolm Prince and Paul O'Grady actually make a duet with Barry happen on this song please? That would be splendid, thank you).
- Christmastime Is Here ~ A Charlie Brown Christmas may not be as well known in the UK as it is in the USA but that doesn't make this song any less essential, any less enchanting. It's got that message to it that encapsulates the special nature of the holiday season for me - "oh that we could always see such spirit through the year". And that is what actually makes this song somewhat of a juxtaposition - it's got lyrics that feel uplifting, detailing all the magical moments we share with others, yet when Harriet sings the aforementioned lyrics it is with a world-weary experience that belies the unkindness, the discrimination and isolation that creeps in when December 26th rolls around. Her performance of just this one line makes this song devastating - yet in a way that isn't designed to make you sad, but to open your eyes and do your part to make this world a nicer place. You should pick up the phone to call someone you love, hold that door just a little longer for the older person struggling with their bags, buy a random stranger a coffee. Christmastime Is Here, Harriet sings to that felicitous piano - but her message transcends the confines of time that the big day is locked to. How you will all not shed a tear when she sings that at her live show on Saturday 28th November in London is beyond me...
- I'll Be Home For Christmas ~ considering what comes next on the album, it's very apropos that this chiming version of this endearing and enduring classic is presented like it's very own fairytale. Both Harriet and Steve have always had a gift for using their musical talents that we only hear to help us create our own vivid images set to their intimate tales. Each time I immerse myself in this ethereal delight, I see ornate music boxes with stately ballerinas twirling around. I sense a snowglobe of the home we want to get to, whirling in the blizzard of snow we generated. Harriet's voice gives you this little flicker of hope that burns brightly as the song progresses - and even when she sings "if only in my dreams" you know that the connection with your loved ones is stronger than distance. As someone who will be away from my parents, and as someone whose mother's dementia means that this - one of her favourite songs - will trigger treasured moments of recollection, this will both break my heart and ably mend it when I inevitably play it on Christmas morning.
- A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes ~ I've not considered as a seasonal number before but marrying Disney magic with the sense of awe and wonder that I associate with Christmas makes it a match made in heaven. The song begins with a truly beautiful songbird of a piano melody that brings to mind the love theme score from my very favourite Christmas movie Love, Actually. There's a tinge of sadness to this introduction which appropriately mirrors the message of the lyrics - the narrative is about healing the wounds caused by love and loss, upset and despair. It's an intricate, elegiac run of notes that repeats throughout the song with an elegant flow that weaves seamlessly alongside Harriet's gorgeous vocals. The meticulous arrangements effervesce an aura of the indelible Christmas standard Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, playing like a prequel to the message of that equally polished song. Harriet is wonderfully accomplished at bringing a heartfelt warmth to the song, her voice continuing to transcend time, trends and genres - magically infusing your entire being with a profoundly sincere aspiration that lifts the spirits and soothes the soul. The whole song is as Yuletide as the Candy Cane Lane Christmas Yankee Candle, as bewitching as anything Elsa, Princess of Arendelle, could conjure up.
- The Very Best Time Of Year ~ and so the album comes to a close with a serene remake of a John Rutter song - it's a song that surmises everything that has come before it and brings our journey full story. It's a love letter to the season that is presented with a sincere earnestness. The restrained production allows the lyrics to sparkle and the melody to be ably guided by Harriet's effulgent voice. It's an aural hug for the listener, leaving you warm and cosy from head to (mistle)toe - brava to Harriet and her team for pulling together such a stunning cornucopia of music that stirs memories, heals, inspires and satiates all at the same time. I weep at it's everlasting beauty.
**Ghosts of Christmas Past**
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