Monday, 20 December 2021

Molly Johnson - It's A Snow Globe World


5 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy-stream It's A Snow Globe World here (external link)

I celebrate the season far too long for some people's liking. 60 days of the year I'm immersed in enough festive merriment to power me through the other 305. What I have learned, however, is it is never too late to discover a new Christmas album - even if it is just a few days before the big day (Santa's birthday). An album of holiday music is for life - not just the season it is released. Find one that charms you and you have the soundtrack to memories gone by as well as the accompaniment to memories you have yet to make. That is why I'm ready to embrace a Holly Molly Christmas via Molly Johnson's new Yuletide opus, It's A Snow Globe World. Magical from start to finish, it is like I've been shaken up and all around me snow is cascading like healing musical glitter from the heavens...
  • Don't You Know It's Christmas ~ the album starts with the warm, engaging Don't You Know It's Christmas; a glorious ode to embracing the most wonderful time of the year. Ms Johnson's vocal is beautifully inviting, describing a vivid winter wonderland with mellifluous ease. She's swathed in an opulent wall of sound that reminds you how great live instruments can sound - each adding their own personality and nuance to the lyrics. Joyful AND triumphant.
  • Painted Blue ~ if you are not familiar with the rich and resonant back catalogue of Molly Johnson, this song will ensure you remember what a gifted, expressive story teller she is. With a funky groove simmering around her voice, she turns her sadness into a cathartic musical experience. She's not only telling you how she feels but letting you feel it with her - and you can't help but feel that is what will lead her (& the listener) to a better tomorrow.
  • I Don't Like Christmas (When You're Not Around) ~ glorious guitar & piano riffs give this a bluesy feel, transporting the listener to some captivating cabaret where the spotlight is solely on Molly as she shares her sentiments at being away from her loved one. It reminds me of a musical soliloquy from the great Hollywood movies of the 40s and 50s - that moment before the romantic lead returns to make sure Christmas isn't painted blue. 
  • This Holiday Season ~ while the music of my mum (ABBA, the Carpenters, Boney M) filled my youthful years, it was the music of my dad (Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra) that gave me a different appreciation. It is why I love this jazzy tinged, scat style intro that then transforms into a glorious horn infused romp where Ms Johnson tells us all about how we can all sing along to give ourselves the most euphoric endorphin boost.
  • Christmas in Hopetown ~ I'm booking a ticket for everyone I know and I don't care how I get there but I desperately want a Christmas in Hopetown. The instrumental, with lilting piano and a shuffling percussion as light as the falling snow, buoys this beautifully poignant vocal. It is not so much a song but a mesmerising performance that helps soothes the troubled soul and calms the world outside, even if just for while you are listening to the music.
  • Winter Wonderland ~ as Molly dips into the holiday standards, it is like these songs were just waiting for her to record. She clearly loves the material she is working with and, alongside her gifted musicians, strips the songs back to their architectural blue prints then rebuilds them so they seamlessly fit into It's A Snow Globe World. This one is a luxurious, lavish trip that you will want to take over and over again...
  • Brighter Day (featuring Billy Newton-Davis) ~ sometimes you just need to seize the moment and appreciate the wonder around you. That is what this icy-cool, finger click, gospel drenched epic is all about. Molly and Billy take you to church with this heaven-sent anthem that is boosted by those gorgeous textured harmonies. It wraps around you like a hug from an old friend and leaves you twinkling with joyous satisfaction.
  • Maybe This Year ~ if the movie Love, Actually has taught me anything it is that Christmas is a time when love can blossom and wishes can come true. This shimmering mid-tempo ballad really lets the lyrics and music breathe so that Miss Johnson (and the listener) can really savour the words. The sonic audio of those sixties style backing vocals make this feel like it traversed the passages of time to find those who need to hear it.
  • What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? ~ ah, the eternal question gets a sprightly tempo and a flittering, flirtatious vocal that makes the enquiry seem lip-bitingly seductive. The lolloping rhythms of the song add to the sense of nervous excitement whilst a piano solo in the middle 8 is the song's MVP as it dances around the simmering percussion with alluring appeal.
  • Winter's Got Spring Up Its Sleeve ~ I love a holiday album that can take you beyond the big day; the album's final two songs do just that. I'm so happy that Molly shines a deserving light on this underrated June Christy classic (60 years after it originally came out). She does such a stellar job that I'd be more than happy if she recorded the entire This Time Of Year album for release in 2022. Until then, I'll stay in her snow globe world.
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