Album Review: David Myles, ‘It’s Christmas’
“It’s the warm firelight on a cold winter’s night, it’s the stranger that’s holding the door. It’s the generous smile, the mother and child, it is peace ringing out over war.”
You’ll hear those words in the title track of Halifax, Nova Scotia based musician David Myles‘s new Christmas recording, It’s Christmas. Those sentiments perfectly encapsulate the warm, gooey, softly smiling feeling that’s supposed to sweep over us during the holiday season. David Myles loves Christmas, it seems, and he wants us to love it, too.
In Myles’s musical hands, the Christmas classics from which you cannot escape come December 1 have a fresh feel. The songs almost sound new, believe it or not, as if they’d just been written. Even the most inflexible Grinch might find his or her mouth cracking up in a smile listening to Myles’s jaunty version of “The Christmas Song,” and his jazzy, swinging way of telling the melancholy story that’s been told for decades in “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
Now, if you’re a fan of the Christmas classics and simply want to listen to them (and only them) over and over again…well, you can do that with It’s Christmas. Myles lets his voice ring in a gorgeous (if very short) version of “Silent Night,” and he and his band share a pretty pleasing rendition of “White Christmas,” too – it’s more upbeat than the classic Bing Crosby version, and a bit more hopeful…more smiles, fewer tears.
In addition to putting his own crooning stamp on the Christmas classics, Myles also shares three brand new Christmas songs: “It’s Christmas” ponders on what the season and holiday should really be about (family, friends, love, peace); “The Gift” is a reflection on generosity and hope and a reminder to make time for the important people in our lives; and “Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo” is a humorous take on the idea that we don’t always get what we want – even at Christmastime.
In fact, you can add “Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo” to your Christmas playlist right now. Folk Alley is offering the exclusive, free download of the tune below! Merry Christmas!
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‘It’s Christmas’ is available now at iTunes and Amazon.com.
CLICK HERE for a free MP3 download of “Santa Never Brings Me a Banjo”
