Christmas is a time for cheer, a time for merriness and joy, but are those feelings relatable throughout the (depending on how much of a Christmas lover you are) eleven months in a year you don’t think about Christmas? One artist keen to make his holiday single last longer than the month of December is Charles on TV, a New York-based upcomer whose unconventionally un-festive Christmas single was released last year specifically out of season.
Tell us about your new Christmas song!
I released a song called ‘This Xmas I want you’ in September last year, which sounds really weird but I wrote it in the spring. I wanted to write a Christmas love song and play around with all of the quiches and turn them on their head. It’s not a song about profound love, it’s about a one-night stand.
So, it’s not really about Christmas?
Not really, Christmas is the backdrop. It’s about having this pathetic one night stand around the holidays when Christmas is supposed to be about having “the one”, but here I am with a Tinder meet up that didn’t go amazingly. It’s a song about loneliness.
Did you want it as a stand-alone song that happens to work as a Christmas song or the other way round?
Ideally, I wanted it to release last Christmas. But I was working on other things, but I at least got the video out this Christmas. It’s taken on a more Christmas-y meaning with the release of the video, I write songs and the meaning changes for me. I like people to interpret my songs however they want, and that works for me too, I can look back at them and think “maybe this is what I meant”.
Will you carry on playing this song all year?
Yeah, for now, I intend on still playing, but when I get more songs that will probably change. When I get more songs, I’ll reserve it for December.
There’s a lot of Christmas song competition, how do you feel about that?
I will definitely be pushing it every year, and I really like that it works as a Christmas song for some people. I’ve loved seeing very different feedback and different responses. I think if I was further along in my career, I would be reluctant to release a Christmas song. This whole EP project has been me sharing what I have been working on, my journey, and I was thinking less about “is this hit worthy” and more just trying to share my art. This year I’m thinking more about what song most people would want to listen to.
Is this song you testing the water for that?
Yeah, it’s all a giant experiment. But this song will be fun to push this time of year every year.
Can new Christmas songs be good?
Well, Tyler the Creator wrote for The Grinch. I have been listening to hot chocolate from that EP a lot. Apart from Mariah Carey, I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas tunes.
Then why did you write a Christmas song?
As the brits say… to be a little cheeky. But I am a big fan of Tyler, and I liked how there was a spin, it was a different take on it. And I think in general Christmas is a cliché, and I like to turn them.
Has Christmas lost its sparkle?
It used to be my absolute favourite holiday, I would count down the days and stay up all night. It loses its spark with age. I think it’s certainly lost its sparkle since 2020. I think this song being released this year is special, because it’s about loneliness, and this is the first year that so many people I know are spending Christmas completely alone. That makes it lose its sparkle.
Is there hope for Christmas futures?
Yes! Before I learnt about the evils of capitalism, Christmas was about the presents. But now it’s more about being festive and finding joy when the days are dark. It’s about being together.
Written by Mason Meyers
GEM Magazine 