Thanks to me being away on holiday, it has taken a wee while to get to bring this to your attention, and indeed it may not be much news to those of you who are discerning when it comes to a love of music.
This time last year, I had a short series about ideas for Christmas gifts, with one of my suggestions being Live At The Rum Puncheon, the debut album from Swansea Sound, an indie supergroup (of sorts) given that its members consist of Hue Williams, Amelia Fletcher, Ian Button and Rob Pursey.
I make no apologies for suggesting their new single will make the perfect Christmas gift in 2022.
It is called Music Lover. It is actually part of a three-track CD which comes inside a specially designed Christmas Card. The track itself isn’t very Christmassy, being two-and-half minutes of indie punk pop, but it is surely the first song written entirely in ‘tribute’ to Daniel Ek, the billionaire founder and CEO of Spotify. The promo video also includes guest appearances from some of Ek’s ridiculously rich friends, such as Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
The Christmassy stuff does come courtesy of the other two songs on the CD, both of which were made available on a limited edition 7″ white vinyl single last year.
Happy Christmas To Me has been described by one proper music writer/critic as ‘the Christmas song the Buzzcocks would have written’. Oh, and it also found Swansea Sound wishing all the best for the festive season to Mr Ek and his pals.
mp3: Swansea Sound – Happy Christmas To Me
The other track is a cover version of Merry Christmas Darlings, the opening song on Christmas Christmas, an album released by Cheap Trick in 2017. As you might expect, it’s not a straightforward cover, with part of the song being given over to the members of Swansea Sound playing the roles of the four billionaires as they jovially and festively exchange corporate mission statements with each other.
The Music Lover EP was actually released on 1 December, in the CD/Christmas Card format, on Bandcamp only. It costs £6. The card can be signed by the band or left blank, depending on your preferences. Being a fanboy, I’ve gone for the signed version! Click here to join in with the fun.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
It feels like ages ago this was pre-ordered – signed too. I like the fact that the song that castigates Spotify, Music Lover- for it’s trickle-down payment (or lack thereof) to artist, not because it’s a digital platform – is the only Swansea Sound song that appears on Spotify. What minxes.
That’s great.