‘Tis the season to complain about it being too early for Christmas songs! Yes, it’s November, and we already have two seasonal songs out from Blossoms who have collaborated with the Stockport Junior Voices Choir for their latest efforts.
These two songs are the first from the band since their 3rd album Foolish Loving Spaces was released earlier in the year. The band have always had a soft spot for the holidays, having previously covered Paul McCartney’s ‘Wonderful Christmastime’ and releasing a Christmas Special of their brilliant “pubcast”.
‘Christmas Eve (Soul Purpose)’ was written on the “hottest day of the year” according to the band, but is about as seasonal as it gets with the customary bells throughout the song and the excellent choir supplementing lead singer Tom Ogden’s voice perfectly on the chorus. The song treads the line between cloying and cute with expert precision never quite going into sickly sweet territory, but instead finds a balance between cheesy and sincere.
The second track on the double A side release ‘It’s Going to be a Cold Winter’ is closer to a traditional Blossoms song while also being a less traditional Christmas song. The lovely opening of the track is reminiscent of another festive classic ‘Christmas Wrapping’ while also leaning into the more grounded themes of that song. The lyrics focus on the more cynical side of the holiday season with the forgotten presents and being “sick of the sweaters” while missing the “Summer wind”. This track is certainly the highlight of the two, it’s just a shame there’s not more of it with the song only lasting as long as a plate of pigs in blankets at a Christmas dinner.
The art of the Christmas song is dying out with X Factor winners and re-releases of old favourites dominating the charts in recent years (‘All I Want for Christmas’ by Mariah Carey is back in the charts despite being released in 1994), but with these new releases I hope these Christmas crackers from Blossoms could possibly spark a revival and become a holiday staple for years to come.
TWELVE INCH 