Saturday, 14 December 2019

Bien - Holiday Cheer


11 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy Holiday Cheer here (Amazon GB)

Well, this is an absolutely delightful find - a whole festive album of Yuletide bliss from the very good indeed indie-pop group known as Bien. Or Tres Bien as the French should always call them. I've spied a couple of holiday singles from them in past years so am utterly thrilled to discover they have put together an album of holiday cheer, aptly called Holiday Cheer. They take their knack for putting together sing-along lyrics which are immersed in irrepressible melodies which have the ability to charm all the live long day. A Christmas album isn't just for the Christmas it is released - it should be a soundtrack to memories past, present and future. The fine folk of (tres) Bien have crafted a gem which will do just that...

The album opens with the title track, the buoyant and perky Holiday Cheer. With lilting keyboard chords dancing elegantly, like a snowflake on the breeze, with plucked strings shimmering alongside, there is a joyful instrumental for a song all about embracing the magic of the season. Sung with genuine enthusiasm and with some splendid chiming backing vocals, it instantly feels like your new favourite future oldie - the song that puts a smile on your face when it pops up on your Christmas playlist at the start of each December (or, if you are me, November 1st). Throw in a glittering middle 8 that is basically a musical dopamine rush and it is Santa approved wonder. Bells Bells Bells is equally as delicious. Basically a new lullaby for every choir in the land to get their textured harmonies around, it casts a spell as enchanting as anything Harry Potter could muster up from his wand. The layering of the vocals with the intricate woven nature of the interlaced refrains make this a song which rewards with multiple listens (and challenges you to sing along to each different sections). Bravo on adding the strings as they sing about a symphony. It is touches like this that make you feel you are in a winter wonderland.

How bold yet apt to call The Best Is Yet To Come. If the quality of the music isn't as splendid as the opening two tracks this could be a slice of irony you don't need. Luckily it is on a par of excellence with what comes before and what follows. An achingly beautiful ballad with a hopeful narrative that will make the craziness of the world outside stop for a little while as you luxuriate in this uplifting composition. Merry Everything is just as radiant a song with a slowed down tempo. There is such earnest sincerity in their wish for loved ones/the world that is hard not to get swept up in the sentiments of the song. With instrumental moments which are as graceful as the most ornate music box, this soothes and satisfies from beginning to end, leaving you longing for more. Jingle Bells takes the crescendo of happy emotion in the previous song and accelerates it into what is best described as a vocal instrumental take on one of the most indelible Christmas classics of our time. When the singing of words does emerge, it is so ethereal and fairytale like that it can't help but wave a wand of whimsy over your entire world (and you are glad to be part of their musical snowglobe). Ho Ho Ho reminds me that frankly there are not enough songs written about Santa's jolly laugh. The resonant piano takes me back to the Doris Day movies of yesteryear, the type of timeless classic that comes with such a sense of playful fun it lets you leave all your inhibitions at the door and release the inner-elf inside. If Disney are looking for a song to soundtrack a Snow White Holiday Spectacular they could do a lot worse than this!

Merry Merry Little Christmas continues this aura of embracing the giddy glee of the season. The two merrys of the title clearly aren't enough and the repeated merry in the refrain is so ridiculously catchy that it should come with a warning. Only this is one thing you do want to catch this Christmas. There is influence of Austrian folk tunes in there that makes you want to dance around the maypole. In lederhosen. At Christmas. Now that's a new type of magic. Become A Child Again is a timely reminder as to why the spirit of the season is so important for so many people. There is a sense of innocence and optimism that we tend to lose as we grow up - but if we can recapture it through the most wonderful time of the year and keep just a little bit of it all year round then we'll be so much better off. When that is conveyed far more eloquently and mellifluously than most of us could manage, then we owe Bien a great big thank you. Every Day's A Holiday brings back that gorgeous piano through a love song which focuses on how the greatest of human emotion can make the world a better place when you find that special person. With fa la las and sweeping strings, you are caught up in the romance of it all - as exhilarating as Colin Firth stomping through the French village to declare his love for Aurelia at the end of Love, Actually.

The album concludes with your own Bien carol concert. They take on three classics, starting with Silent Night. The unison of their voices enhances the majesty and awe of the words whilst the hushed glistening instrumental is as effective and vivid as the first mist of the season rolling in over the hills. It is a masterclass in how you don't need to belt a song to the rafters to get an emphatic, effective message across. The First Noel is just as reverent, delivered with a real humility. Yet whilst keeping the architecture and integrity of the song, they somehow manage to make it sound like a pop hit for contemporary radio. It is never overplayed or overwrought, just a confidence in their ability to bend their voices to the stature the music requires. When it naturally segues into We Three Kings it is so flawlessly done that you barely notice is a different song altogether. And then it all comes to a conclusion via O Holy Night. Stripping out the bombast of this song was a risky move but one that ultimately pays over - the ladies savour every single word and the listener gets to feel every ounce of love they have for performing this song. It brings an exquisite album of everlasting songs to a close, but the ability to go back and start all over again now feels like a cherished gift one gets to repeat as often as required.

**Ghosts of Christmas past**
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