05/12/2025
December is quite the hardest month to programme. Research has taken as long as ever; this month I have found only four new tunes to add. ‘Barbed Wire’ by the Cardinals is due for release next February – they’re an Irish group and the song is a fine rocker. Sebastien Tellier is a French singer/songwriter who represented France in the 2008 Eurovision contest with a song called ‘Divine’. He actually sounds like a woman, but the addition of Nile Rogers on ‘Thrill of the Night’ compensates for any lack of Seb’s testosterone.
Ashe hails from San Jose. She recently was forced to cancel a tour down under in order to preserve her sanity, but it was ‘Fun While It Lasted’. Emmett Jerome was born some way north of Ashe – Alberta, Canada, in fact – and he graces The Roolz with a style of authentic country rock on ‘Come Down’ which I think you’ll like.
And that’s it for new releases.
And so to Christmas. All the charts and music lists are littered with the same old tired stuff. I actually take the meaning of Christmas seriously and I really can’t do the Noddy, Roy, Pogues, Sirs Paul & Elton thing all over again. It seems extraordinary that no-one has come up with a meaningful new Christmas tune in more than half a century. The only one that has snuck through is John & Yoko’s: this year perhaps more relevant than ever. Instead, I have broadened the musical scope to include choral and orchestral works, folk, gospel and even some traditional French Christmas songs.
Careful with those mince pies, Eugene.
