Saturday, 27 November 2021

Collabro & Cliff Richard ~ Mistletoe and Wine


4 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy-stream Mistletoe & Wine here (external link)
Read my Collabro Christmas music reviews here

I'm old enough to remember the thrill of Cliff Richard releasing Mistletoe and Wine the first time around - his cheery "Merry Christmas everybody" when he performed it on the must-see TV event of Christmas Day Top Of The Pops. I'm also lucky enough to have a mum who educated me in the ways of musical theatre and told me it was originally in a musical called Scraps; an Oom Pah Pah style anthem sung by Twiggy of all people. Luckily, I'm still addicted to both Christmas music and quality vocal harmonies so have experienced the delights of the Collabro lads adding their resonant tones to seasonal songs - first via the deluxe edition of their phenomenal Stars album (which still has my favourite cover art by them), then by last year's lovely Christmas album. They've now teamed up with Cliff to release a brand new version of his 1988 festive classic and it is, what my mum would call, a right bobby dazzler...

The new version keeps the enchanting whimsy of the original with a lilting piano introduction and serene solos that help bring a sense of calm that helps dull the noise of the crazy world we live in. It is a beautiful respite with sweeping, elegant string sections and delightful chiming bells that swathe the voices in a music box melody that enhances the heart felt sincerity in their individual and combined voices. The crescendo out of the middle 8 into the final run through of the chorus is thrilling, whilst the final moments add in layers of majestic horns and orchestral pomp that elevates the combined vocals of the gents and Sir Cliff to seventh heaven and beyond. What works really well is that the voices don't belt it out (which is always the temptation); rather they just imbue their performance with a passion that sends it soaring into the rafters. A lovely new take; one that will help you feel joyful and triumphant!

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