These LITM Singer-Songwriter Picks, featuring 23 Fields, John Smyths, Bill Wood & The Woodies, and more, are optimistic, warm, and mellow, perfect for the festive season!
1. 23 Fields – You’re Alright
You’re Alright is a tender, heartfelt single by 23 Fields that radiates warmth and reassurance. It’s gently encouraging – managing to be so without becoming overwhelmingly, unrealistically optimistic – and moves with a steady rhythm, giving it an understated confidence. At its core, it’s about those moments of quiet sorrow in solitude, and standing by those you love in such moments. A lot of the song’s weight comes from its grounded vocal delivery and unfaltering guitars, which land with intimacy. “Written for all those people pretending to be ok when they're not”, as 23 Fields puts it, the song makes it feel like it’s made just for you. Listen here.
2. John Smyths – Please Come Home for Christmas
John Smyths’ rendition of the classic festive favourite, Please Come Home for Christmas, is heartwarming, rich, and raw. Where many songs of the season focus on joy and cheer, Smyths’ version makes way for vulnerability, putting on showcase the ache of missing someone in their absence during a time of cosiness and warmth: it’s refreshing to see such a universal feeling that’s rarely fully acknowledged find its way into such moving music. The song’s vocals land heavy like soft snow, lingering, hovering, floating, inviting you to join in its quiet, contemplative headspace – give it a listen here, and see who comes to your mind this Christmas.
3. Bill Wood & The Woodies – Dance All Night With Me
Dance All Night With Me extends a glowing invitation to come to the dance floor and leave the worries of the world behind. It feels like stepping into a hidden bar that’s been standing on the corner of the road for decades, and has a weight to it that comes only from lived experience. Bill Wood & The Woodies bring experience to their performance, but never let that or their nostalgia eclipse the song’s grounded heart. It’s not overproduced, and doesn’t rely on flashy elements or gimmicks to captivate you – it has that live feeling, and warms you up from your head to your toes. Listen here!
4. Noctæra – Visions Through Amber
From Noctæra’s album comes the titular track Visions Through Amber, a slow, mellow track that lands softly and settles deeply within you. Opening with a string section that sets a tone of melancholy and reflection, it places the listener in a space of warm recollection of fragile memories that you’re scared to touch for the fear that they’ll disappear immediately. “Sunflowers sway softly in the air /and stars still shine with the same care / The pendulum still swings, always reminding / that visions drift away like pollen in the wind,” Noctæra sings, a perfect representation of moments long bygone. Giving the emotions space to breathe, the song leans into being delicate rather than explosive, and this only makes it even more impactful.
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