Retail stores, and a few of my overzealous neighbors, kick off the Holiday season somewhere around early October. However, I am just not feeling it until after Halloween. October is for ghosts, goblins, and pillow cases full of mini-snickers bars.
Once November arrives though, all bets are off. I am ready for Christmas cheer, mistletoe, and the 24/7 marathon of cheesy holiday movies on the Hallmark network. Of course, here in the States we still have Thanksgiving to celebrate first. But, aside from Adam Sandler’s “turkey-lurkey-do” tune, there aren’t any good Thanksgiving songs.
So, LongLane’s “One Winter’s Tale” arrived in my inbox just in time. LongLane is a UK band, founded and fronted by John Galliano. He is an artist, photographer, film-maker, lyricist and composer in Liverpool. Galliano collaborates with other musicians and singers to create what he calls, “traditional yet contemporary modern music.”
“One Winter’s Tale” fits the bill perfectly. The song beautifully weaves together a subdued arrangement of strings, Spanish guitar, piano, and bass. With the first pull of the cello’s bow, we are transported to Christmas morning. I imagine staring out at snow covered hills through a frosty window.
As the lush instrumentation paints the scene, Veronique Van Pelten delivers a beautiful vocal performance. She sings Galliano’s lyrics, which describe a homey holiday scene in the form of an observational poem. The song is contemporary in its subject matter, as when Veronique sings of texting friends. But the tune returns firmly to traditional yuletide ground in the chorus with a classic holiday melody.
Follow the links below to add “One Winter’s Tale” to your holiday playlist, and follow LongLane to keep up to date on all of John Galliano’s current and future projects.