Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The meaning of Christmas has become distorted, recklessly fought over in what seems to a titanic battle between consumerism and wanton displays of excess, and yet if we allow ourselves to dig a little deeper into our collective souls, we may find the spirit of the time of year is not dominated by what we have but what we are prepared to rejoice in, peace, love, harmony and the ability to hear a voice that speaks to the time and be at one with its song.
There is very little that compares to the sound of music and the heartening vocal that is able to lift the heart and make it beat that little more contentedly than that which celebrates and reflects the joy that Christmas is meant to bring to one and all. The haunting rendition of a family favourite as memories of those we have lost along the way and the ones that have come into our lives are all treated with the same sense of happiness and solemnity. It is a pleasure highlighted as Songs For Christmas leave their huge mark on the heart.
The stillness of the end of year can install a sense of the timeless, a period of reflection and hope for the world to change for the better, and for Yvonne Lyon, it is delivered with the delight that her engaging new release will be seen as a positive reminder that we should treat the time not with the pressure of consuming, but with the simplicity of living, to settle down and take stock, to smile more, to help those to whom life has treated unfairly or with cynicism.
Joined by such musical talent as Sandy Jones, Graeme Duffin, David Lyon, Seonaid Aitkin, Scott Wood, Jaimie Stables and sweet serenading backing vocals from Nicole Bannister, Gemma McCabe and Rachel Smith, Yvonne Lyon delivers classic renditions and beautiful musings on songs such as See Amid The Winter’s Snow, If I Can’t Be Home For Christmas, Joy To The World, In The Bleak Midwinter, Love Came Down At Christmas, O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Dear December with heartfelt implorings and with the magic restored.
An album of warmth and peace should always be a consideration to while away the still hours, a glass of your favourite drink in your hand and a fire to keep you cosy, but also one that makes you think how fortunate we are to be able to see Christmas in; Yvonne Lyon offers that with love.
Yvonne Lyon’s Songs For Christmas is available now.
Ian D. Hall