Monday, 26 October 2020

Lady A - On This Winter's Night: Deluxe Edition


60 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Buy Lady A's deluxe edition of On This Winter's Night here (Amazon GB)
Stream Lady A's deluxe edition of On This Winter's Night here (Spotify)

Lady A started their Christmas journey in 2010 with a Target exclusve, 6 track EP called Merry Little Christmas. Two years later, they expanded that into a full album - On This Winter's Night - and now they are celebrating a full decade of soundtracking your holiday traditions with a new, deluxe version. Let's face it, a Christmas album is for life, not just the year it is released, so the addition of four bonus tracks alongside their now indelible selection of seasonal songs is very welcome. Produced by long time collaborator, Paul Worley, the new songs are an equal selection of classics and new material, done in that inimitable Lady A style. Their wintry whizz has always been to interpret your favourites in seductive new ways, something they excel at here whilst also making sure the newly composed songs are your favourites of Christmases yet to happen...

The arrangement of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime pays tribute to the 80s original whilst still adding a little Lady A magic - the individual voices are stellar but combined create a convivial feel; meanwhile the ding dong moments (listen, you'll see what I mean) are so majestic with the addition of horns that it will make you feel joyful AND triumphant! Their take on the Beach Boys' Little Saint Nick brings a little sunshine to the winter's night vibes; Charles leading the song is a great choice - his effusive and spirited vocal makes you feel he's having a good a time singing it as you are listening to it. And, as expected on a song like this, the harmonies are precision perfect - layering the song with a holiday enthusiasm that's hard to resist. The sax is Santa's best gift for this song, making it a rollicking romp that makes you glad from head to mistletoe.

The band penned Christmas Through Your Eyes shares a title with a Gloria Estefan song of the same name - and is equally lovely. A melange of laid back piano, percussion and guitar wrap themselves like ribbons round the earnest lyrics - which are a nostalgic look at when we grown ups were less cynical about the holiday season and were able to see the sparkle of the most wonderful time of the year. I love a piano middle eight and this one is gorgeous. The other original song, That Spirit of Christmas, keeps the warm, cosy feels flowing as freely as your most potent egg nog latte recipe. Like Christmas Through Your Eyes, this is a relaxed pace that enables you to pause the craziness of Christmas and just bask in the moments of Yuletide that often pass us by if we aren't paying attention. Four lovely new songs - two to get the party started and two to evoke memories of Christmas past but in the present. 

**Ghosts of Christmas Past**
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