Thursday, 20 November 2025

Picture This - It's Christmas Time


5 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Stream Picture This' Christmas EP here (Spotify)

Picture this - ace Irish pop-rock band, Picture This cap off a stellar year of music and tour with a brand new Christmas EP. It's Christmas Time consists of three songs from their lads, all done in their own style but with enough holiday cheer to power Santa's sleigh until new year. Now, a festive offering from Picture This may not have been on your bingo card for 2025 but the thing I've found about Christmas music (and I listen to a lot of it - this being my 1001st review in 13 years) is that it knows no musical boundaries. For every Mariah singing about how you're her only Christmas wish this year, there's Bruce Springsteen and his E-street band spreading Yuletide cheer; for every Buble moment on the radi-ho ho ho, there's Bon Jovi unwrapping their own wintry reflections. So why not Picture This? They've done it blooming well - including one song that with enough radio play sounds like a festive chart topper!

Before we launch into new music, let's not forget they have already tackled one song for your Spotify December playlist. Back in 2016, they released This Christmas which reached number 25 on the Irish singles chart. It's easy to see why - it was a heartfelt ode to lost love and wishing them the best as Christmas comes around. Set to acoustic guitar and shuffling drums, the poetic lyrics were the post break up equivalent of glad tidings to all and good will to all men (and women). Bringing in the choral backing vocalists makes it the equivalent of angels we have heard on high - and sends the message of love (actually) and reconcilliation soaring past seventh heaven to cloud nine. A few years after this was released, the recorded a sumptuous orchestral version that adds even more warmth and heart, through cascading strings, lilting brass and a beautiful melange of elegant sounds. 
  • It's Christmas Time ~ an original composition always has to stand up next to the Merry Xmas Everyone and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Days of the world; pleased to report that this does just that. With jangling guitar and pulsing, the lads conjure up an effusive score that provides feel good vibes (with excellent crescendo moments that amp up the energy of the music to match the hopeful optimism of the lyrics). Ryan sings with stark candour of the oft-forgot rigours of life that still exist at this time of year, but explores them through the lens of how the holidays can (if you just let them) make everything just that little bit better. He's a compelling raconteur, his infectious enthusiasm for the festivities being utterly contagious. Guaranteed to let the light in...

**Ghosts of Christmas Past**
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