Whether you love or hate Christmas, there’s nothing like the musical lead-up to it in the Western world.
America can’t live without Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Canada’s Michael Bublé never fails to announce that “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas”. The Brits from Coldplay officially turn on the “Christmas Lights”. And José Feliciano joyfully wishes everyone “Feliz Navidad” (“Merry Christmas” in Spanish).
Even though Aussie artists don’t really have a reason to sing about the cold weather, snow, or mulled wine, some have nailed conjuring up the Chrissy atmosphere in their own special ways. Take grentperez, for example.
PART 173 OF “AM I EVER GONNA SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN?” A RANDOM COLLECTION OF UNKNOWINGLY OBVIOUS FACTS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN MUSIC SCENE
Before anything else, let me clarify two things.
Firstly, Australian artists often release albums with festive songs. Some recent ones include Vika & Linda, Jimmy Barnes, and Delta Goodrem. So grentperez (real name Grant Perez) is not the only one.
Secondly, if you look at the Sydney artist’s back catalogue, only three of his singles are Christmas-related. So he is not exactly Michael Bublé in that context.
But let’s focus on the muso’s “non-Christmas” back catalogue first.
Apparently, grentperez has been singing and playing guitar since he was five. Like many artists from his generation, he turned to YouTube to go public with his hobby. He’s been uploading songs, both original ones and covers, to the platform since 2013. Eight years later, his first EP was released on streaming platforms.
The Filipino-Australian singer/songwriter has been successfully building his presence on the local scene, consistently dropping catchy tracks. One of them is “Cherry Wine”. It’s the single that put him on the Australian music industry’s radar. Another one is “Op Shop Lover”. You can vote for this rad collab with Lime Cordiale in this year’s triple j’s “Hottest 100” countdown.
With a current total of three EPs and a full album, he was nominated for the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist recognition at the 2023 ARIAs. He has also toured overseas and appeared on triple j’s “Like A Version” segment, with his take on “Teacher’s Pet” – the banger from the School of Rock.
When it comes to influences and artists with a similar vibe, he points to a few. Amongst them are American R&B/soul/funk musician Mac Ayres and British multi-instrumentalist blending hip-hop, jazz, and bedroom pop Rex Orange County. As a child, grentperez also listened to The Beatles and Queen with his dad.
Hence, his style is an eclectic fusion of genres. He said this about his music ventures on the triple j Unearthed platform, “I mainly dive around indie, soul, jazz, hip-hop type things, but expect the occasional switch up every once in a while.”
And I reckon his holiday song “switch-up” is what he does exceptionally well.
His musical romance with Christmas didn’t start with original songs, though.
In 2021, he dropped two soulful renditions of holiday classics, “Please Come Home for Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”. Those covers already got me hooked. Because, in grentperez’s case, it’s all about the warm, comforting vocals we all love to hear in holiday releases.
The following year, however, the singer went a step further, releasing an original song for the 2022 holiday season.
“When Christmas Comes Again” is a pretty tune, accompanied by a very un-Aussie, yet super Christmassy, home-style video. Think wearing an “ugly” holiday jumper, sledding in the snow, decorating the tree, and all that jazz.
This year couldn’t have been different.
“Christmas Starts Tonight”, the 2023 grentperez holiday release, arrived on November 1st. (See what he did there? That’s right after Halloween. Very Mariah Carey-like.)
When I’m typing this, mid-December, his new Christmas tune has already been streamed over 1.1 million times (!) on Spotify alone. (I guess I’m not the only one charmed by his angelic voice, hey?)
It’s another memorable tune, evoking the magical Christmas atmosphere. This time, we’re presented with a vivid musical picture of gifts under the tree, a kiss under the mistletoe, and someone knocking on the door.
And you can’t really argue with the single’s message: “The season gets better / When we’re together”. After all, Christmas is all about being with the loved ones.
So Michael Bublé might be the most popular Christmas troubadour in the world. But Australia has a great contender in grentperez. And I’m already curious about his next holiday song move in 2024.
In the meantime, however – Merry Christmas 2023, everyone!
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