The Genuine Fakes - Do You Want To Build A Snowman?

38 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!

Stream Do You Want To Build A Snowman here (soundcloud)

When a group's first ever single is an innovative cover version of one of the best Christmas songs of all time (Mariah's All I Want For Christmas Is You), you know I'm going to sit up and pay attention. When that group, The Genuine Fakes, continues to build a reputation for deconstructing music to it's base architecture and rebuilding it in thrilling power-pop new ways, I'm totally on board for the ride. This year, the Swedish quartet are taking on Disney and bringing an effusive pop-rock infused sheen to the indelible Frozen song, Do You Wanna Build A Snowman. It's part of their Frost double-A side single (more on the flip song in a moment) and here's why it's become part of The Genuine Fakes repertoire...
"When I first heard the song, I immediately thought that it was a perfect pop song," says singer Joey. "I started toying around with an arrangement right away, and when we tried it as a band we all felt that we had to do this! Then we went into the studio and treated it like any other song we've recorded, and when it came out on the other side it was a Genuine Fakes song."
The results are a genuine treat. The original is infused with the pathos and melancholy of loneliness, of dreams that seem out of your reach - even if they are the most simple things. Those sentiments are still there in this TGF version, but the energy is amped up thanks to vibrant guitar riffs and glorious textured harmonies that permeate in and out of the lead vocal. The effect of this is that it adds some resilience to the narrative, a sense of not giving up on something that you know is worth the persistent effort. The galloping percussion adds to this sense of giddy abandon in pursuit of your quest and it's all bloody brilliant from start to finish.

(Do check out their equally evocative power ballad AA side, You Always Come Back Home (for Xmas). It's a sonorous affair that is rich in electric guitar, shuffling beats and elegiac piano that all combine to accentuate the pleading nature of the lyrics. Joey delivers an impassioned vocal that is literally dripping in the emotions of the poetic words. And of course, those converged voices of the band continue to be an utter delight. An essential two-fer for your Christmas playlist).

**Ghosts of Christmas Past**

• 16th November 2014 ~ Tina Arena, The Things We Do For Love
• 16th November 2013 ~ Omar Afuni, The Spirit Of Christmas
• 16th November 2009 ~ Pet Shop Boys, Christmas EP
• 16th November 2009 ~ A Fine Frenzy, Oh Blue Christmas