Yesterday marked the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, with more than twelve hours of darkness to enjoy. I have been working hard on one of my new projects and I expect to complete it on Boxing Day, before I get on with the next one. It's a busy time, with tight deadlines to meet for my editors, but I do love working from home, especially at this time of year when the house is so festive. I feel very lucky to be able to spend my days curled up with my laptop, by the twinkling tree and write away for hours.
As cosy as it is though, I still want to feel like I am enjoying the festive season, so I like to have instrumental Christmassy music playing in the background as I write. I like the Downton Abbey Christmas album, but an old favourite of mine is Medwyn Goodall's A Christmas Tapestry, which I've had for years and it comes out every Yuletide. It's lovely blend of new age soundscapes and well-known Christmas carols. I like the album so much that I was on the hunt for something similar this year, to change the background vibes a bit and I came across a couple of new releases from New World Music.
I have collaborated with New World in the past on the Fairy Nights album and it is a label that I love. They produce some spectacular albums and I was not disappointed with my new festive purchases. My favourite is Mulled Wine and Mistletoe. I absolutely adore this album and I have been listening to it virtually non-stop!
The best way I can describe it would be to say that it is like stepping back in time, to a great hall in a beautiful castle, which is all decked out for Christmas, with the Yule log burning in a huge fireplace. If you have ever seen the TV show The Tudors, this album is very much like the kind played in the Christmas scenes in King Henry's court when he is wooing Anne Boleyn. The music is very traditional and it has a medieval quality that carries you away to another time. It includes classics such as Silent Night and I Saw Three Ships, but it also has beautiful old fashioned tunes such as The Boar's Head Carol, Coventry Carol, Sans Day Carol and also Gaudete, which is a personal favourite of mine.
Mulled Wine and Mistletoe is a continuous play album, so there are no long silences between tracks; one track blends easily into the next. It is a charming album and I'm so glad I got it. I know that I will play it every year from now on and that I will miss it during the rest of the year. I just love the medieval, old fashioned atmosphere this CD provides, and curled up in one of my Victorian velvet nightgowns, I can imagine myself far away in a castle in the Highlands. I really hope these artists release a similar album of medieval music that can be played all year round, because I would certainly buy it.
The second album I purchased was The Christmas Album, which features lots of well-known New Age artists such as Medwyn Goodall, Tim Rock and Wychazel. This is classic New Age music, with none of the medieval vibes of Mulled Wine and Mistletoe. It is still a very beautiful album though, with tinkling sounds, flutes, pipes and piano. It's a nice album to relax to, perhaps while having a festive Snow Fairy bath. It should also help to calm the mind amid a frenzy of last minute present wrapping too! This album is certainly one that you can keep on standby over the festive season for when you need to de-stress. It is lovely background music for Christmas dinner or if you're driving home for Christmas.
While both these albums are lovely and I do like them a lot, for me Mulled Wine and Mistletoe wins the contest, because of it's power to transport me back in time, so if you are only looking to purchase one new festive album this year, I would go with that one. New World Music festive albums are available on CD and to download. Enjoy!
BB Marie x
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