It’s that time of the year again, and everyone is feeling jolly. What better way to help those who need a hand in joining the others in this festive mood than with a slow Christmas song, such as ‘It’s Christmas’, by ‘Katie Garibaldi and Joseph Metcalfe.

The composition of this song is quite simple, which serves so beautifully to the song. There’s something quite magical about the simplicity, the space, and the intimacy of a Christmas ballad. The duo really captures the feeling of a child waking up on Christmas morning, with a decorated tree filled with colorful presents under it. The song starts with an elegant melody sung over a guitar chord progression, with a metallic glockenspiel/celeste layering little flavors of magic over the guitar accents. Slowly, as the song continues, more instruments add their own texture to the composition without ever sounding too overwhelming. While there are a lot of songs that benefit from having a dynamic range as the song progresses, songs like these greatly benefit from just having a few jumps and dips in energy to stay as comfortable and warm as possible. The melodies sung in such a welcoming tone add so much to the warmth of the track, along with all of the right Christmas-y percussions thrown in to paint an even brighter picture. The cello solo, which bleeds into the last chorus, is the cherry on top of the cake – what warmer instrument could there be, especially for a Christmas song?

There’s something so intimate and comfortable about this song, with an almost childlike wonder that’ll bring you right back to your childhood’s living room re-experiencing some of the most innocent memories of your life. It’s the magic of Christmas music, especially when experienced as special as Katie and Joseph deliver it in ‘It’s Christmas’.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.