28 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Good Ol' Fashioned Christmas here (Amazon UK)
Read my interview with Mark Franks here (Myfizzypop)
I'm actually slightly in awe and disbelief that my favourite group, The Overtones, have released an album of music that celebrates my favourite time of the year. In many ways it has been a horrible year - both personally and with the atrocities in the world, yet A Good Ol' Fashioned Christmas by the lads restores your faith in hope, love and humanity. Our boys are radiant in a seasonal setting, sharing their enthusiasm and unwavering belief in better times ahead if we all let a little of that good ol' fashioned christmas spirit into our hearts. It's a cornucopia of Yuletide celebrations, but also takes a few moments of quiet reflection - just as we all do during the busy holiday period. It's the time of year when all emotions are heightened so the good times seem that much more happy while the lonely moments are all the more aching. Lachie, Tim, Mark, Mike and Darren have beautifully captured the true essence of Christmas across this album. It's a gift from start to finish - and one that is going to endure through the years as the album you pull out to remind you of memories gone by and to soundtrack the new memories you've yet to create. Here's what you get...
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town ~ you know, I always thought that It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year would be the perfect opening for The Overtones Good Ol' Fashioned Christmas. I was wrong. This is a jubilant start to the album with galloping piano chords, shimmering jingle bells and a peppy pace that's as giddy and exhilarating as skating round Central Park in the brisk winter breeze. Timmy gives a sterling lead vocal and he has a tight hold on the melody as he guides it around those exuberant horns and vibrant percussive grooves. It's a family affair of course as the rest of the guys give doo-wop harmonious magic and add their own flair to certain elements of the lyrics (a Lachie led "so be good for goodness sake" will have you weak at the knees)... It sets the standard for what's to follow, as every good opening track should. It demonstrates the classic, timeless nature of the production and vocals (as inferred in the album title) and instantly puts a smile on your face. They should prescribe this on the NHS because it fills you with gladness from head through your tummy tum tum down to your (mistle)toes. Brilliant!
- It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year ~ is there a more opulent and satisfying opening to a number than this? It feels wonderfully theatrical, as if the curtains are drawing up on a grandiose 50s Hollywood musical where The Overtones are set to woo the boys and girls of a town called Gingerbread. It's a sonically massive big band version that makes it feel like an entire symphony is hiding in your speakers - this ensures that it feels very organic and much like how songs used to be recorded before everything could be replicated (but not quite) at the touch of a button. Their vocals imbued with a joy and love for their work that shines forth, and that gives the track it's gleeful nature. They help you visualise this picture perfect scene with their delivery of those charming lyrics - it's evocative and totally brilliant. Oh and those ding dongs that the lads weave into the fabric of the song? Utterly, deliriously delicious :)
- Winter Wonderland ~ this track beautifully glistens into life, like the first gentle fall of snow covering the world. I love a song that musically replicates the narrative thrust of the story and The Overtones have always excelled at that. It's a lovely slowed down tempo to intro the track before a horn infused, jingling bell instrumental picks up the tempo and the boys do what they are best at - creating an entirely fun and magnificent singalong song. I've said it before in previous reviews of the chaps music - these vocal arrangements that blend oh so well with the musical score are absolutely exquisite. It must take such hard work and talent to craft these in a way that keeps the essence of the original but is also oh so indelibly Overtoney. Quick note - I am loving the almost Beach Boys rockabilly middle 8 breakdown! BLISS! Little Saint Nick would be proud - and probably be rocking around the Christmas tree to this festive gem.
- Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire ~ A crackling fire brings the first real slowed down moment of the album into being. There is some lovely piano that's an elegant dance partner for Lachie's melodious and resonant singing. Graceful chimes and tasteful strings accompany this piano-vocal duet; the group harmonies are like a celestial choir singing from on high and it's all as heartwarming as a hug from an old friend. Over five years into their career and The Overtones prove to be the most skillful of raconteurs, filling every moment of the music with tangible emotions. It's as good a place as any to note how on this song (and across the album in general), the boys let the sentiments of the lyrics flow through their voices meaning each performance they give across GOFC is gorgeously earnest and sincere. It certainly gives me The Feels...
- This Christmas ~ there is a good reason that the lads picked this track as the song to promote the album. Yes, just like every other song here it has festive cheer baked right into the fabric of the song but as an original penned number it sparkles as brightly as any other song here (and absolutely deserves to be a massive smash on radio year after year in the same way that Last Christmas, All I Want For Christmas and Merry Christmas Everyone are). The guys have done themselves proud with this - their ability to make new songs seamlessly sit alongside classic numbers remains unparalleled and this is just amazing. It's the story of an Overtones Christmas, all the eagerness and longing for the big day to arrive coupled with the practical prep needed to make as just as magical as it should be (love that Lachie is listening to Stevie Wonder as he puts on his suit and tie). If there was ever to be a musical version of Love, Actually then this would definitely be the rousing closing number - that euphoric refrain of "this Christmas time, I get to call you mine" reminds you that love - ALL LOVE - actually is all around. Bells, jingles and a middle 8 that is like the great vocal groups of the 60s reborn and their sounds traversing the passages of time is the icing on the most delicious Christmas stollen! A new Christmas classic is born and I love it. Stunning.
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas ~ If this were a traditional vinyl album as in days of "yore", then This Christmas would have been the sensational closing to side A while this pretty interpretation would have been the perfect way to start side B. It's got a jazz-infused score that has dainty piano melodies and a impish percussive groove that will have you kool kats finger clicking along in new time. You can just picture the fellas in a small jazz club, low lighting, man-bun hipsters everywhere as the guys cast a spell with their mesmerising and delightful singing style. I like to imagine that the original singer of this song, Judy Garland, would whoop in delight that they've transformed it from the yearning wish she portrayed into the emphatic command the boys have engineered. I get the feeling that this must have been an absolute hoot to record and that is conveyed through both the instrumentation and, of course, the radiant yet slick singing the boys give us.
- Sleigh Ride ~ always been a favourite festive tune and I love this interpretation by the boys. It definitely stands out with a resonant intro from Lachie before launching into a finger clicking, string aided edition of one of the most joyous seasonal tunes around. There are moments that make it feel like it's been mashed together with Why Do Fools Fall In Love, adding to it's endearing charms. The constant clip-clop effect throughout the song ensures you don't just listen to it but are seduced by the rhythmic groove of that horse drawn carriage through the winter wonderland. It's a song they've sung for a few years now and it has lost absolutely none of it's addictive appeal. I still adore this performance - there are ties, cravats and bow ties, all too cute dance moves, leaning in with the microphone and a genuine impression that they are having the time of their lives. I am confident that the Christmas party tour will be like this but amped up to the nth degree. Absolutely magnificent :)
- Good Ol' Fashioned Christmas ~ the second original composition and title track to this fabulous collection is just as pleasing as This Christmas, but in different ways. It feels like a mission statement for the band with lyrics about having a jolly splendid time dancing the night away - it's one part Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, one part bell ringing genius and one part Step Back In Time by Kylie (with it's pleasing references to the classic music and memories we've all loved). And just like This Christmas, this also feels like it would boogie nicely into a musical soundtrack. This time, I'm thinking it would be the perfect number for A Very Hairspray Christmas, should a musical like that ever occur. The lads have always had a touch of the theatricals about their original compositions and performances and this embodies those talents with invigorating vim. Now someone get a Broadway producer on the phone because I'm ready for The Overtones - A Christmas Musical in 2016 if you please.
- Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow ~ this song opens like the chimes from a music box being let loose before Lachie twirls around like Truly Scrumptious with his fairy tale opening. It then blossoms into a layered, inviting swing version of the song with some excellent Mark vocals (YAY!) that really highlight that this isn't necessarily about wanting a blanket of snow to cover the ground so you can build snowmen but it means you get to canoodle and do stuff (!) by the fire place for that much longer. Saucy chap. The whole song has that seductive aura of the leading men from films like Holiday Inn and White Christmas. In fact, if the fellas want to blend this song with Snow from the latter film as part of their tour, then that would be a-ok with me!
- White Christmas - hey, talking of White Christmas! This has a serene, playful doo-wop beginning before the smoothly harmonised, Lachie crooned melody and backing vocals kick in. Actually I hesitate to say backing vocals because each contributing vocal by the boys is as essential to the track as the melody line - and this is a large part of the appeal (and talent) of The Overtones. This certainly continues when Timmy takes over melody vocal detail and the song sparkles and glides like a gently falling, very beautiful snowflake. It's more than a song, it's a love letter to the season and one that projects love and happiness from every nuanced note sung. It's also very intimate - they may as well be singing "and may all your Christmasses be white, Paul" (though I suspect that if they did that the marketing opportunities would be less broad, but you know what I mean)! Just heavenly.
- Driving Home For Christmas ~ And so the journey ends with a journey. They've explored every facet of the season and leave us with this Chris Rea standard. It feels a bit like a companion piece to one of the most uplifting songs of the year (Giving Me Soul), a song that saved me in many ways in 2015. This accentuates the sentiments of Giving Me Soul, fueled by the hopes of what lies ahead and it's the most wonderful piano on the album thus far (and that in itself is the most massive of compliments). As the dreams and anticipation of our fab five grow, the song explodes in a moment of gleeful celebration that will warm even the coldest, most Grinch-like of hearts this holiday season. Like the rest of the album, it's both joyful and triumphant and I can't thank the guys enough for staying true to the spirit of Christmas from start to finish. I'm in total awe.
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