Album review: A Los Campesinos! Christmas (Los Campesinos!)

SINGAPORE — Welsh band Los Campesinos drops an album of original songs written with the Christmas theme in mind. Instead of the usual standards or carols, the indie pop band gives its fans a personal Season’s Greetings consisting of five new songs composed in the typical Los Campesinos! style (and one intriguing cover to boot). Bookended by When Christmas Comes and Lonely Christmas, the band takes all the glitz and glamour out of the holidays and drops a dollop of reality into the proceedings. The final track (a Mud cover) opens with the lines “try to imagine a Christmas all alone” as the band taps into the depressing sentiment of spending Christmas by one’s lonesome. Though one might argue that the whole purpose of the entire celebration is set aside all negativity, in this instance, a dose of honesty is exactly what the doctor ordered.