Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Christmas pulls on the heart strings for a reason, and if we took away the forced gluttony of overspending, of treating it as if it was a period to over-indulge, to practise a sense of religion that for the rest of the year we have no truck with, all that would be left is a moment in which we reflect during the short hours of light and the lengthening shadows of dark, of all that we may have achieved, who has been by our side and who has supported us during the bright, unclouded days.
For that is the point of the time of year, it is not garish sales and flitting around in the search for presents that might not see out the following 12 months, but to reflect, to consider the seeds to be sown during the spring to come and to mull over what the time would be without that one person to whom you can say a Christmas Without You would make me leave my senses.
Christmas is a time when songs are created in that same vein of hope that they will either cause the heart to burst with the flood of emotions, or they are cynically exposed to create an atmosphere of bonhomie, the party is nothing after all without a memorable tune in which the likes of Slade and Wizard are guaranteed to raise a smile.
The truth of Christmas may be about both those moments, to cherish the gathering, perhaps more so than ever, after all we are only human, we need company and good memory to survive; however as Liverpool’s Gareth Heesom shows in his new single, Christmas Without You, it is also about understanding that a life deprived of that one person who has been there all year round, through summer’s contentment and autumn’s fierce winds, that one person to whom the dark nights complete the soul, Christmas means more than anything; just knowing they are still fighting for you, is enough to see you through till spring’s resurgent beauty is acknowledged.
In this song Gareth Heesom soars to an absolute high, a real passion of belief can be heard, and more importantly, felt, as the meaning and the tune hit home to remind us of what the time of year is really about, acknowledging the time spent with someone who loves you, and how much you would miss that sense of eternal hope if they weren’t there.
A great song, one that gets under the skin and reveals a truth, reveals a passion for all that rejects the idea of isolation in a world in need of a loving touch.
Gareth Heesom releases Christmas Without You on December 18th.
Ian D. Hall