Lopez Blogs

Oh what a less than festive day at work I've had. We moved into our offices over the weekend (I did, of course, not help out being too busy watching Mean Girls and insulting national sweetheart Cheryl Tweedy-Cole) which meant I got lumbered with overseeing vital tasks today. Boo those whores. Clearly it was down to me to sort out the poo that someone did in the toilets that are clearly marked "DO NOT USE - NOT PLUMBED IN" (it wasn't me) and get safety stickers for all the floor to ceiling glass panelling until the frosting is put on it to save anyone else walking smack into one and hurting their nose and pride (yes, tragically, that was me). And amid all this chaos and nonsense I asked myself "self. this does not feel like Christmas. I need to be FEELING Christmas. Is it Christmas?" Proving that God/Santa does not hate a Cheryl Cole disser (she was excellent in the tv show special i'll grant you, but not as amazing as Nicola & Sarah - more here), a little mp3 floated my way to cure what ails me...
I was belabouring the fact the other day that my beloved Feeling hadn't actually done a proper Christmas song of their own. Oh sure, they covered the very vaguely seasonal, definitely inspirational classic Don't Give Up, but to have a proper self penned Feeling tune to add to their fabbo collection of songs would be a Christmas dream come true. Well, as slightly nauseating Alexandra (who i AM warming to) X Factor said "never give up on your dreams" (is she sponsored by Hallmark or what?!) And i didn't - and to cheer my rubbishy day up, I get rewarded with an amazing piano driven new tune from Dan and the boys called Feels Like Christmas. Before I tell you all how magnificent this festive ditty actually is, let's see what Dan has to say about it in the mass email sent to The Feeling Mailing List today...

"I'm the opposite of the 'Bah Humbug' Christmas grump. I've always loved Christmas and the surrounding hullabaloo - especially the songs from Bing to Slade to Wizzard to Bing and Bowie. I wrote and recorded this one several years ago on the piano, but never intended it to be released so I kept it a secret. We added the drums and strings this year and then we thought it might be a good time to let people hear it to see what they thought."

Melodically it reminds me a bit of the utterly butterly gorgeous 12 Stops and Home (hidden) track I Miss You. It starts with a delicate piano refrain and Dan singing about cold fingers and hands, when this just beautiful little chime pipes in at 25 seconds and the orchestra gives it a more elegant feel. The chorus asks "is it Christmas or am I just going insane?" before deciding that being with the one that you love does indeed feel like Christmas ("and baby I ain't even religious"). Add a lilting flute in the background at verse two, and you almost go into Christmas overdrive. More bells are forthcoming and you end up with a beautiful yet somehow still restrained seasonal tune that will sound quite perfect all year round. The piano at the end is so floating and whimsical that it almost makes me want to cry. Marv and a half without a doubt :)

Other new Christmas tunes:

George Michael - December Song I Dreamed Of: While nothing will probably top Last Christmas as one of the festive tunes of all time, George pulls it out the bag with this sombre seasonal offering available to listen to on youtube right now... it's more of a gentle grower than an in your face pop classic, but that's fine. I prescribe one listen per day, increasing to two the week before Christmas and by the time it's available to download for free on the 25th you will be loving this very understated, yet moving beautiful piece of work. I've not really kept up with Georgie lately, but I am really appreciating this. Gorgeous piano work, and a haunting vocal really make it work on many levels....

Coming tomorrow: the best pop-Christmas songs of recent years...