By Ron Power – The Christmas season is upon us and the immortal Cher has a new Christmas album to help us get into the spirit. The album is called Christmas and I’d like to share a little about the stand out track, “Christmas Ain’t Christmas Without You”. This song has all the trimmings that come with great holiday music and offers a vintage feel with a modern touch. With festive bells, bopping drums, and exciting auto tuned vocals, “Christmas Ain’t Christmas Without You” just might warm your heart and get your butt moving all at once.
Like many other holiday songs, this festive tune gets things started with the sound of sleigh bells. This is followed by distant and shimmering synth strings, rich bell sounds, and a snare drum roll that glides into the verse like a sled over freshly fallen snow. With her one of a kind voice, Cher delivers a melody that hits the ears like a holiday classic. Under the vocals we hear bright guitar chords played with a staccato quarter note rhythm giving the song an irresistible fun feeling. Sustained Lead guitar notes layered with Christmas bells are also added to the mix. This creates a deeper feeling amongst the sugary pop arrangement and adds width and height to the music.
Next, Cher whisks the listener to the chorus adding string like synth pads and backing vocals processed with generous amounts of reverb. Additional energy is packed in through the faster paced vocal melody giving lift and contrast to the verse. The four-on-the-floor drum beat keeps toes tapping while sprinkles of timpani drums deepen the groove. Finally, a layer of pizzazz is added by way of a crispy horn section giving this new song an old time Phil Spector Christmas vibe. This bump of musical volume to the chorus has all the spirit lifting power and holiday cheer you could ask for from a Christmas song.
After a couple verses and chorus sections Cher mixes it up with a middle eight that stuffs even more flavor into this treat of a song. Here the brass section is emphasized while still maintaining plenty of headroom for the vocals to shine. Additionally, a fresh melody line performed with bells sprinkles a little extra Christmas spirit on the track. Cher’s one of a kind voice pulls the listener in with the lines, “If I could make the miles between us melt away / You’d be right beside me, baby, on a perfect Christmas day”.
Besides the new Christmas music, Cher is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her 1998 hit album Believe. To mark the occasion Cher is offering a 3LP Deluxe edition of the record that includes the original album plus two remastered and remixed versions. You can find the deluxe edition of Believe along with the new Christmas music on Cher’s Shopify store. If you’d like to listen to “Christmas Ain’t Christmas Without You” you can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and most other places music is streamed or sold. If you’ve been trapped underground in a doomsday shelter for several decades and you don’t know who Cher is, you can learn more about her on TikTok, Instagram, X, and Facebook.
