Ever since the 1st December passed I’ve spent as much time as possible either in the snow or at the festive German market in town. I love Christmas. Occasionally, (basically when my flat mates have let me) this has been sound-tracked by a pretty flawless collection of Christmas songs. Yes, some of them will find you pulling your finger nails out just to force your mind somewhere else but every now and then a Christmas song can capture a moment of sheer happiness that completely and utterly transports you somewhere else.
However, these Christmas songs are so ingrained in our collective conscious it’s hard to create anything new or special. The Darkness’ Christmas Song that was unavoidable a few years ago has failed to make the leap into true festive compilation territory. Even Coldplay’s offering this year, while beautiful in a 2000 Miles fashion, can’t help but feel like something people will listen to once a year when they stumble across it on their iPods rather than something you’ll here over the speakers at a shopping centre.
MJ Hibbett & The Validators 6-track Christmas ep can’t help but fall into the same basket. The release is peppered with attention to detail which obviously shows a love for what they’re doing, however in a short-cut to evoking joy they’ve embraced spontaneity. While I’m not suggesting that every song on a Christmas ep should be a work of art, when simple things such as tuning are compromised we’re left balancing an uncomfortable mix of happy recklessness and self sabotage. Most songs feature ukulele and last little over two minutes, this obviously isn’t trying to change your life. Still, when wry lyrical observations often fall flat (such as the idea that Westlife will be at Christmas number one, an event that happened once in 1999) it’s hard to see what it is trying to do.
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Dig into MJ Hibbett's Christmas Selection Box at Bandcamp
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