It’s the third of December and so we open our third door and find…’Christmas Light’, a lovely airy, happy, and altogether *fun* EP from Coventry singer, Stylusboy!
With a style described variously as folk pop or acoustic pop, we were approached by Stylusboy (aka Steve Jones) to review his Christmas EP as part of our Essential Advent Calendar, and we’re very glad we did. There’s five songs on the EP, all of which sound like he’s sung them with a smile on his face.
From the jaunty opener, ‘Christmas Time’ (where Steve is joined by “The Mini Styluses” – his wife Rebecca and their children), through the jolly ‘Jingle Bells’ – we’ve never heard beyond the first verse before, so this one was really quite new on us (who knew that the sleigh tipped over in the snow?), to the slower, and beautiful, ‘O Little Town’; ‘Silent Night’ is perfect, sung accompanied by guitar, as it was supposedly originally played. The final song, the title track, ‘Christmas Light’, is a love song – piano led and stirring. “Can we dance together, like birds of a feather, I’d give you all the world if I could – stay close tonight”.
Last year Steve was asked by the BBC to play a song live on air before the annual Coventry Cathedral Christmas Carol performance, as part of their Twelve Days of Christmas special. It was from this experience that the EP evolved.
“I love Christmas,” says Steve, “and music is always a huge part of it for me. As a child I grew up singing carols and other songs — they hold a lot of special memories for me…”
It’s an altogether lovely EP, and Stylusboy will be launching it on 11 December at Big Comfy Bookshop, in Coventry. You can get tickets via We Got Tickets. ‘Christmas Light’, is currently available to preorder from his Bandcamp page, where you can also purchase the rest of his extensive back catalogue. ‘Christmas Light’ can be purchased as either a digital download or as a limited edition CD with a handmade sleeve:
Find Stylusboy on Twitter, Facebook, and his website. Checkout ‘Christmas Light’ on Soundcloud:
