Arctic Circle – That Fuzzy Feeling

Arctic Circle - That Fuzzy Feeling

Christmas is well and truly here. I heard it in my ears. Whilst this modern lifestyle with all it’s economic trials disguised as global warming preventing initiatives seem to have sapped some of those wonderfully overblown city-sized Christmas trees this year, at least we have Arctic Circle to shoehorn this wonderful set of festivities into our headphones. It doesn’t take an awful lot to make me overjoyed at this time of year, but I do count myself a connoiseur of Christmas cacophony; there’s a lot of dross out there, lazy covers and distressing cash-ins, so a well earned huzzah once more for these folks.

Starting with some warm horns to create that cosy fireplace feeling, it then delicately plucks it’s way to a sentimental tale which lets all us once-a-year shoppers know that yuletide present gathering is this hard for other people too, but as long as there’s a little love you’ll be OK. Might even make you want to hug an elf. Josh Weller is then joined by Paloma Faith for a pretty, witty, one-two about breaking up a home at this time of year. A topic which could stir unhappy memories and a depressing mood in the wrong hands, a bouncy enough tune and some rhymes memorable for being a bit dodgy (“Oedipus complex” and “Malcolm X”) and others that are completely fantastic (“job “and “knob”! Ha!) leave you with more of a ‘Fairytale of New York’-esque grin at their predicament as you jazz away to their plucky wee number.

It steps back a tad with a quieter, slightly darker, piano-y one. A bit more introspective and likely to have you staring into the distance, thinking of Christmas cheer gone by, it’s perhaps a bit off topic but form is recovered slightly for ‘I’ll Save The Bath Water For You This Christmas Time.’ More inspiring words of love, hope and “break dancing on the kitchen floor,” it ends before really having chance to say what you feel it wants to. Good though.

It ends with a slightly delicate, building female vocal singing about “the voice of Christmas Day.” Taking three and a half minutes to build up to a bit of pomp, it quickly dies down again and is actually a bit disappointing. Perhaps this isn’t as good as I declared at the start, but the first two tracks are obviously so marvellous that they’ll have you saying whatever they want you to. The rest is good too, just not quite sparklingly Santa-loving.

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