
It’s that time again. Mariah Carey has been defrosted. Michael Bublé’s accountant is buying another yacht. Christmas music is firmly back at the summit of the charts like the 900-pound Swarovski star atop the Rockefeller Center tree.
It’s easy (and fun) to be cynical about Christmas music. Sure, there are a few notable classics of the genre: Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl’s modern hymn to redemption “Fairytale of New York”, James Brown taking “Santa Claus... Straight to the Ghetto”, Darlene Love urging her baby to “Please Come Home”, but there’s also a whole lot of saccharine schmaltz clogging up the airwaves that will rot your teeth faster than a diet of candy canes.