Tropicana Nov-Dec 2020 #133 The Festive Issue

CULTURE | MUSIC
Music To Get You Merry
Whether you’re decorating the Christmas tree or throwing an intimate shindig at home,
a soundtrack with the best festive songs is essential to set the mood.
It’s Beginning to Look
a Lot Like Christmas
Michael Bublé
All I Want For Christmas
Is You
Mariah Carey
Twenty-six years after its release, Carey’s ultimate
festive classic is still the go-to bop to get any soiree
started. It consistently lands in the top spot on the
Billboard Holiday 100. Carey co-wrote and coproduced
it for her first holiday album Merry Xmas,
released in 1994. With an estimated sale of over 16
million copies, it remains the best-selling Christmas
single by a female artist and one of the best-selling
singles of all time. An up-tempo and infectious love
song that includes bell chimes, heavy back-up vocals
and synthesizers, resistance to this is futile.
Bublé’s cover of It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like
Christmas became an instant classic, and so
did the rest of his holiday album. In 2011
- the year it was released - Christmas spent
five weeks in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard
200 album sales chart. It’s hard to fathom
that Bublé is not a crooner from the 50s. He
puts his own slant on any song, making this
traditional Yuletide classic worth having in your playlist. With his smooth, laidback
vocals, he makes you feel like you’re right in front of an imaginary fireplace with your
friends and family.
Santa Tell Me
Ariana Grande
Is it possible for a song to be an instant classic?
In 2014, Ariana Grande released this holiday
single, and it immediately became one of
her biggest hits. Most Christmas songs are
forgotten by the new year but not this. Santa Tell
Me cleverly works Grande’s natural evanescence
to its advantage, casting the former child star
as a teenager pleading with Santa for a
boyfriend who won’t disappear after she “gives it all away”. There’s nothing kitsch
about the smart beat or Grande’s breathy yet powerful vocals, poised between girlishness
and adulthood.
Last Christmas
Carly Rae Jepsen
One of the biggest holiday
hits, Last Christmas was written
by George Michael and
released way back in 1986.
Although not technically a
Christmas song as it tells of
a broken-hearted man who’s
trying to forget an ex-lover,
it is still only usually heard during the year-end festivities. Unlike
many of the earlier covers, Jepsen keeps things simple in her version.
It is still purely a pop song, here to soothe anyone with a bad
case of holiday heartache. Turn it up for chill 80s vibes and
a reminder that there’s way more to the season than finding
romance.
Santa’s
Coming for Us
Sia
From Sia’s Everyday Is
Christmas album, this is a
modern, upbeat take on the
classic Santa Claus Is Coming to
Town. Sia’s debut single from
this album is breaking away
from our expectations of
holiday albums. It is an original song that isn’t backed by constant
jingling bells and barely samples from within the genre. What it does
offer is an extremely catchy chorus, and an updated list of all the
things that we look forward to in the approaching festivities. By the
end, it cements its acceptance into the song genre, whilst maintaining
its modern vibe.
TM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
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