Music Monday – Volume Eighty

1) Shura – Touch

Slick and smooth, this is an effortlessly cool R&B jam by Shura.

2) Tame Impala – Yes I’m Changing

Melancholic and moody but a brilliant track which mirrors lots of ’80’s pop.

3) The 1975 – Ugh!

The 1975 dropped another incredible track this week. This is reminiscent of some of Prince’s funkiest material and it’s bloody awesome.

4) Girls Aloud – The Loving Kind

Completely forgot about this track until it appeared as a suggested video on YouTube the other day. Written by The Pet Shop Boys, this is one of their best.

5) Donny Hathaway – This Christmas

Smooth and soulful, this is old-school Christmas music at its best. Absolutely brilliant track.

6) Snakehips ft Tinashe & Chance the rapper – All my friends

Love the chilled out nature of this and the chorus is very anthemic.

7) Roxette – It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)

Before this track came to prominence, it was actually a Christmas song. Not a lot had to be removed to turn it into a generic track and both versions are lovely. One of the best and most emotive power ballads from the ’80’s.

8) James Bay – Hold Back The River

This is still an incredible, rousing and uplifting track. James performing it on the BBC Music Awards reinforced that for me.

9) Cliff Richard – Young Love

Anything by Cliff is a guilty pleasure. I have no idea how I came across this but it’s a nice little song.

10) The Pretenders – 2000 Miles

An often forgotten about Christmas song. It’s not the most cheery of festive songs but it’s a brilliant song and Chrissie Hynde’s vocals are still some of the best out there.

31 Days Of Christmas

Day 17 Cliff Richard – Saviour’s Day

Say what you will about Cliff, whilst he’s not perhaps the most credible artist, he’s certainly contributed generously to Christmas pop records! Most know ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ which of course is a classic too but I’ve chosen an arguably less known track. This reached Christmas Number One in 1990 and has been voted into lists of both the best and most annoying Christmas songs.

I love this, I don’t think it’s necessarily the most Christmassy song you can hear but I think it’s a fantastic song. It’s another one that I’ve grown up to listening to every year and I just love the mood and tone of it. It’s loyal to Cliff’s style with its sway-worthy beat yet the lyrics are optimistic and it is a feel-good track. I particularly love how the track changes during the middle eight and the faded out refrain at the end of the track.

An underrated and often forgot about Christmas tune.