Friday, 20 December 2024

Dennis van Aarssen ~ Christmas When You're Here (Deluxe Edition)


5 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Stream Christmas When You're Here (Deluxe Edition) here (Spotify)
Read my review of the original release of Christmas When You're Here here

It has been two years since Dennis van Aarssen dazzled us with his (hopefully inaugural) Christmas album, Christmas When You're Here. I discovered its charms quite late in the holiday season of 2022 but certainly spent a lot of time with it as it's music filled the joy that's in my heart with each subsequent listen. Of course I was delighted that Santa has persuaded Dennis to release a deluxe edition of the album this very Christmas - with five glorious new songs that fit seamlessly alongside his existing holiday songbook. Dennis always manages to make the season feel as elegant and timeless as he looks on the album cover art - like the most ornate gem on your Christmas tree. Here's hoping he brings his Christmas concert to the UK next year...
  • Hitch A Ride With Santa ~ there's a church choir vibe to the opening bars of the song, gentle coos that swathe Dennis' travel woes in the most angelic sermon. The pace then picks up with jingling bells, a canter of a percussive groove and enchanting backing vocals that help Dennis bring his plea to use Santa's sleigh as a rail replacement service to bring his love to him at the most wonderful time of year. With a catchy hook, you'll soon be singing along with vigour.
  • Last Christmas ~ last Christmas (or two) Denns covered Driving Home for Christmas, this year he brings the same flair to the Wham classic. The score and harmonies are so intricate that it leaves you a little bit breathless as he makes the song his own, as if always meant to be sung by him. Horn blasts and inventive tweaks to the music make it exhilarating to hear - my god, you can always rely on this song and Dennis has done it proud. He's made it joyful and triumphant!
  • Wonderful Christmastime ~ sticking in classic 80s Christmas songs, Dennis now unwraps the Paul McCartney standard and re-gifts it in this big band trimming that enhances the joy and merriment of the original lyrics. Dennis doesn't just sing these songs, he performs them with infectious enthusiasm and dynamite professionalism so that you feel like a whole orchestra is playing in your living room while he makes the expansive production feel oh so intimate. 
  • This Time of Year ~ the original release of this album taught us that Dennis genuinely loves the happy emotions that the season brings and he's put them in this poetic, mellifulous sing-along anthem that is designed to become your future favourite Christmas oldie. The lyrics are so descriptive and vivid that it paints a perfect Christmas card picture as if by magic. And I guess his talent to do so is some sort of magic - like a festive Harry Potter with a merry patronus.
  • Until Next Christmas ~ i thought that the title track was the perfect finale to the original release, but Dennis has outdone himself with this new finale. It is a buoyant, soaring anthem that will make you dance along wherever you are when you here it. There's a giddy grace to the music with a contagious enthusiasm to the vocal delivery that twinkles like the lights on the tree. Like Santa, Dennis delivers the goods and leaves you hungry for me. So until next Christmas then?
**Ghosts of Christmas past**
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