Friday, 4 December 2015

Matt Zarley - Miss You Most (At Christmastime)


21 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy Miss You Most (At Christmastime) here (Amazon UK)
Read my review of Matt's Don't Save It All For Christmas Day here

I love Matt Zarley. Not in a "zomg-I'm-gonna-marry-him" sort of way (he hasn't asked). More of a smitten-by-his-emotive-singing-style sort of way. He's such a gifted, nuanced performer that whether it be his own composition or interpreting the words of another he finds the heart of the lyrics and conveys them in a way that tugs on your heartstrings. Last year he did a compelling version of Don't Save It All For Christmas Day - and follows it up for the 2015 holiday season with a cover of Mariah Carey's Miss You Most (At Christmastime). Of course, everyone remembers All I Want For Christmas Is You from Mariah's seminal and genre-defining Merry Christmas album. That joyous romp restored the world's hope and optimism in dreams coming true - a simple musical wish that made your inner most romantic desires seem entirely possible. However, Miss You Most is the type of ballad that accentuates all the pathos, loneliness and yearning that can also seem so prevalent at this time of year. Matt is the perfect person to bring this song back to the public's attention. Set to an elegiac instrumental that's a mellifluous duet partner with Matt's heartbreaking vocal, the symbiotic pairing traverses through the speakers like delicate snowflakes falling to the ground. The resonant piano performs an elegant and graceful dance of sorrowful reminiscing with those graceful strings - and how Matt sings brings out the hitherto hidden facets of the song. He sings because not singing won't bring the person back, but because singing will help him remember. And singing helps channel the hurt and pathos into memories of better times past, present and with hope for the future. That his mellifluous vocals can do these things is perhaps the best gift of all. Just lovely - and a reminder to make the most of the times with people you love because you never know when their part in your story (and yours in theirs) will come to an end. Christmas album next year please Matt, you hopeful romantic.

**Ghosts of Christmas Past**

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