Blog Post
Jeanice Lee - 'Xmas in C Minor/My Heart is Complicated +2'
Iain McArhur • 24 November 2020
Xmas Single/EP Review To be released on 4 December 2020
Too soon for a Xmas single? Oh no, it isn’t! In any other year we would be well into Panto season by now. And this is not just any Xmas single. If “Xmas in C Minor” was a Christmas movie it would definitely not be ‘Love Actually’. It’s darker than ‘Die Hard’; darker even than Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’. In fact the only thing that’s even close to its darkness is that dark bit in ‘Gremlins’ where Kate tells Billy how her father died and why she really hates Xmas. Oh yes, Jeanice really is the Anti-Griswold on this recording and maybe it’s the Xmas song that 2020 deserves.
Let’s face it, not everyone gets to enjoy a fantasy Xmas. Jeanice originally wrote this emotional roller-coaster of a song after spending a Christmas home alone following the breakdown of a 23-year relationship and you can feel genuine despair in the lyrics. Mercifully, there is a real-life happy ending to this tale as Jeanice now shares her life in Edinburgh with band-mate, guitarist Marco Morelli. They work well together musically and, as they’re a couple, the pair were permitted to go into the studio with Bryan Ramage to produce this stunning piece of music just in time for the holidays.
Some festive but ominous bells introduce the track before Marco adds a quietly malevolent guitar motif and his strong riffing underpins the almost symphonic movements of the song before it crunches up to almost Metallica levels at the end. Powerful stuff and, at seven minutes, a real epic.
Jeanice definitely brings originality and freshness to her music, telling her poetic and powerful stories with a distinctive deep, emotive and delightfully accented voice. It sometimes takes a couple of listens to fully tap into the lyrical content but it’s well worth the effort to unlock the treasures within. You might recall “Our City”, her powerful song in defence of her home town, Hong Kong from earlier in the year, featuring hard-hitting and venomous lyrics and some more blistering guitar work.
The second part of this double-A side is “My Heart is Complicated”; a full band recording of a live favourite which was not included on the debut album. It certainly deserves equal billing and brings some welcome light to the shadows, although there is still a sadness there. Again, Jeanice adds uniquely twisted and melancholic lyrics to what is a highly addictive, melodic earworm of a song.
The artwork for both songs deserves a special mention. Dave Cameron produced the stunning Xmas shot which sets the scene, while Demi Nikolova designed the ‘Heart’ cover.
The physical CD version also includes two bonus tracks which are ‘Live in the Studio’ versions of two of the best songs from the band’s “Beyond Never” album, namely “Freefall” and “World of Fallacy”. “Freefall” is a melodic gem and Jeanice really lets her voice soar on the chorus, while Marco achieves a really great guitar sound on “World of Fallacy” which features another brutally philosophical tale in the lyrics. Check the band’s Facebook and website for details on how to pre-order the CD or streaming options.
So here it is; Merry Xmas and don’t let the bells end. This EP might be a bit like “It’s A Wonderful Life”? It gets pretty bleak in places but is ultimately uplifting and well, maybe this isn’t the year for cheesy sh*te like Cliff Richard or “The Holiday”. And by the way, don’t let anyone tell you that ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Gremlins’ are not Xmas movies!! Yippee Kay Yay motherf***ers!