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Dec 16, 2021 Web Exclusive By Andy Von Pip

With Apple, Spotify, Tidal, and Amazon all vying to tempt the big stars into recording a festive cover or indeed conjuring a Christmas original, contemporary festive music has never been easier to find. The Nettwerk Music Group was well ahead of the curve in this respect and has been releasing seasonal music for many years.

This year’s offering, Almost Christmas - Christmas Mistletunes, features a smattering of original songs mixed with some fairly straightforward, albeit slowed down cover versions from a selection of up and coming artists. The result is an album that may not quite blow your festive socks off, but will certainly put you in a relaxed frame of mind for the festive season. And really I’m not sure Christmas is a time you particularly want to be challenged by music. I’m still haunted by once hearing a collection of seasonal covers mauled to within an inch of their lives by a revolving cast of ghastly hirsute prog rockers who in turn sounded like they were being tortured by Krampus himself.

The album kicks off with a new original tune from talented singer/songwriter Wrabel, who’s worked with everybody from Pink to Ellie Goulding, with “This Christmas.” It’s certainly one of the album’s highlights alongside the bittersweet “Lonely on Christmas Eve” by Geographer.

In terms of the cover versions, well nobody particularly takes any risks and the classic festive fair isn’t particularly reworked or reinterpreted aside from a less than jaunty but effective version of “Jingle Bells” by SYML. Tom Speight’s stripped back take on Chris Rea’s “Driving Home For Christmas” is nicely done and makes a change from Rea’s world weary vocal—maybe one year he’ll learn his lesson and get the train home? Rosie Darling’s evocative version of “Love Is Christmas” is a real highlight and quite beautifully delivered. Elsewhere there are other stripped back versions of Christmas classics such as The Sweeplings’ slowed down take on Mariah Carey’s bombastic festive thumper “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

If you’re looking for a relaxing reflective holiday soundtrack, Christmas Mistletunes certainly hits the spot. Think of it as an aural scented candle, but if you’re looking for something a little louder you could put on A Twisted Christmas by Twisted Sister, although could doesn’t mean you should. (www.nettwerk.com)

Author rating: 7/10