Advent Calendar 2022: Day 8 🎉

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After yesterday’s fairly rowdy selections I’m in a more sedate mood today: three songs for you, two of which I haven’t played before. So settle down and relax…

The first one is the one I’ve shared a few times before. It is a Christmas standard and this version is, for me the best ever:

At the risk of repeating myself, this is an updated version what I have said about this previously:

A singer-songwriter, Brynn Andre released two albums, in 2009 and 2011, and a couple of EPs in 2011 and 2012, but then went rather silent. This was the title track on the second of those EPs, neither of which is available any longer, as far as I have found. She got married and developed a couple of freelance careers, as a copywriter and a life coach, which you can find under her married name of Brynn Johnson or the company name – Swandive –  if you are in need of either service! I had rather assumed that she had left the music business completely, but then she popped up in a collaboration in 2018 and dipped her own toe in the water again in 2019 with a single called Pools (see what I did there?). Her social media accounts have been equally quiet, though she did thank me on Facebook when I commented how much I enjoyed Pools, but I’m still hopeful that she may one day make a return to music. On her company website there’s a questionnaire to which she answers ‘If I could do one thing for the rest of my life….’ with ‘songwriting.’ Fingers crossed!” And if you watch this on YouTube you’ll see that my comment when she first posted this is still up at the top, along with her reply thanking me – I think this is ‘delightful.’

Last year I took a day playing you three different versions of this next song, which is another that has become a seasonal standard over the years. But this wasn’t one of those three. It is a rather different treatment, see what you think:

Alex Boyé is an interesting character. He is a British/American singer-songwriter, actor, dancer and an ordained Minister. Rather than go on at length, I’m giving you this link to his Wikipedia entry: it is a fascinating read. His version of Little Drummer Boy came out in December 2015 and has so far been seen more than 6.6m times on YouTube. Impressive? Yes, but nowhere near his best: he has given the same treatment to Let it Go, from the movie Frozen, and that one currently stands at over 113m views! Not being religious I’m not especially a fan of the overt Church messaging at the end of this, but you can’t deny that he has a good heart and does much to support others. And I rather like his voice, too.

A number of you enjoyed the animation I played a couple of days ago, so I thought I’d give you another. Again, this is one I haven’t played before, and again it is lovely:

Sia is an Australian singer and songwriter, who has had some massive chart successes, notably with her 2014 breakthrough album 1000 Forms Of Fear, which was a US #1 and a UK #5, and gave us the hit single Chandelier (UK #6, US #8, 2.5bn YouTube views) – the one where she once appeared on tv performing under what looked like a lampshade. This was actually her response to some of the problems she had experienced from fame and the way people reacted to her, and I rather admired her for it. Snowman was a track on her album Everyday Is Christmas, released in November 2017, reaching #39 in the UK and #27 in the US. The song was released as a single and made #35 in the UK, though it wasn’t a US hit. The animation is very sweet, even with the sponsor’s message, and I do like her slightly husky voice too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a more restful collection of songs for today. An image for the day in similar tone? Maybe…not:

See you again tomorrow 🧑‍🎄

47 thoughts on “Advent Calendar 2022: Day 8 🎉”

  3. All winners for me today. I read your comment n YouTube from 10 years ago. I think this is the best version I’ve heard of Let It Snow, also.The African tribal version of Little Drummer Boy is great, especially for its drum work (no pun intended). The video was also a delight. I dig the Sia song. I’ve come around on her sound over the years. I think you’ve hit the right adjective to describe her voice—husky. A+ today.

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  4. Brynn has such a beautiful voice – I hope she finds a way to return to the world of music.

    the African Drummer Boy was outstanding… I’ll have to check out his other video.

    love the animation and story of Snowman. and she does have a unique voice…

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    • I guess Brynn found a more rewarding way of making a living. A shame, though, as she does have a lovely voice.

      His other video is jut as good!

      That last one was new on me, but I really liked everything about it so had to include it 😊

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  5. Enjoying hearing new Christmas songs and new versions of Christmas songs. They were all good. (I liked the message at the end of the Drummer boy too. :))
    OH, but the last video was so precious!
    I am ready for snow now!

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  8. I enjoyed them all Clive. I hadn’t come across any of them but they are well put together, performed and I liked the videos. My favourite is Brynn’s. Just love that bit of Moog in the arrangement!

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