December seems to have received some leftovers that the Western music industry just didn’t have time to release during the year. However, this month offers some of the most interesting Christmas projects from Ukrainian artists. We safely ignore Nicki Minaj’s new album, so that fans of the outrageous rapper will forgive us, and state that the main, loudest releases of 2023 have already taken place. Therefore, now we have to be satisfied with what we have. This factor has also had a noticeable effect on the amount of rock music that usually gets a lot of attention in our music digests. We tell you how the December top turned out.
Genre: electronic dance music
Release date: December 1
Number of tracks: 14
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
The new work from American music producer and DJ Dillon Francis is a conceptual follow-up to his 2015 album This Mixtape Is Fire. There’s also plenty of guest artists and an EDM vibe somewhere in the 10s. At the same time, Francis does not focus on a single style, because This Mixtape Is Fire TOO offers elements of many genres – trap, bass house, mumbaton, dubstep, etc.
Separately, it is worth highlighting clips in which there was a place for whimsical absurdity, satire on modern trends, and even Billy Zane. The latter starts a fiery dance in the middle of the desert. Not to say that all the tracks on the album encourage you to follow his example, but at least they are pleasant to listen to.
Genre: art rock, art pop, progressive rock
Release date: December 1
Number of tracks: 12
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
I/O, which stands for Input/Output, is the tenth album of the British musician Peter Gabriel and a real long-term project that the artist has been working on for several decades. In fact, this is Gabriel’s first album in over 21 years to feature original material. It is divided into the so-called Bright-Side Mix (mixed by Mark Stent) and Dark-Side Mix (mixed by Chad Blake), so each track has two versions of the sound.
Some of the old-fashioned material is immediately felt: local music has nothing to do with modern trends and musical fashion. But that is its value. The 73-year-old musician is in great shape and delivers a very solid and mature work that captivates from the first track. Whether it’s the exciting chorus of Panopticom, or the emotional explosion in the slow Playing for Time, or the gentle female backing in Love Can Heal (more pronounced in the “bright side”) – everything works and creates a special, unique atmosphere.
Genre: French pop, European pop
Release date: December 1
Number of tracks: 12
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
Mika, the author of the immortal hit Relax (Take It Easy), presented his first French-language and sixth album, which was named after a phrase the singer’s mother often repeated to her son. Unfortunately, the woman died in 2021 from brain cancer.
This is an inspired, airy and dreamy work, primarily intended for sensual natures. The French language adds its charm, setting a frankly romantic mood.
Genre: pop, pop rock
Release date: December 1
Number of tracks: 11
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
Echoes: Ancient & Modern is a collection of covers by English music producer Trevor Horne on famous hits of the past. As with his previous work, Reimagines the Eighties (2019), the songs feature orchestration and are performed by guest artists. The only exception is the last track, Avalon, which Horn performed personally.
The local tracklist offers covers of world famous hits and even masterpieces. For example, there are own versions of Billy Idol’s White Wedding, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, Iggy Pop’s Personal Jesus, and more. It cannot be clearly stated that all the songs played with new colors (although Kendrick Lamar’s Swimming Pools performed by Tori Amos sounds terribly cool), but their other sound looks interesting and sometimes unexpected, so it definitely deserves attention.
Genre: noise rock, electro-industrial
Release date: December 7
Number of tracks: 12
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
The noise-rock band Health, also known for its participation in the recording of soundtracks for video games (Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto Online: Arena Wars, League of Legends, Cyberpunk 2077), presents its sixth album to the listener. The guys release a powerful portion of juicy electronic music, multiplied by elements of noise-rock, industrial and other things.
The album sounds gloomy, psychedelic, sometimes even depressing, pressing on the brain; in short, he does everything to make it as comfortable as possible to hide in a corner and suffer. Although it is possible that this will suit someone for dancing as well. What can you say, sometimes such a whimsical psychotherapy is needed.
Genre: Ukrainian folk songs, electro-folk, a capella
Release date: December 8
Number of tracks: 4
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
Singer Yulia Yurina presented a mini-album with her own versions of Ukrainian folk songs before Christmas. Some of them sported new, more modern colors.
Two songs, “Oh in Kyiv and on a stone” and “The Swallow” are performed a cappella, which allows you to be immersed in the authentic spirit of a traditional Ukrainian song. The other two – “Play the sea” and “Generous evening” – offer to look at folk music from a slightly different angle. It turned out very nice.
Genre: carols, greetings
Release date: December 8
Number of tracks: 13
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
Where to watch: My
The singer ROXOLANA (Roksolana Syrota) distinguished herself with her Christmas album. The playlist consists of 8 carols performed together with invited friends — Monatik, Kazka, member of the Kadnay group Filip Kolyadenko, Volodymyr Dantes and the winner of the 12th season of “Voice of the Country” Maria Kvitka.
There are also small poetic greetings on the album, in this case from star guests such as Zhenya Yanovych, Oleksandra Mashlyatina, Timur Miroshnychenko and even TikTok star Matviy Brus, about whom we have already written.
The words of Roksolana herself that “old Ukrainian songs can sound fashionable and cool” best describe this work. In addition, the singer, together with all the artists who worked on the album, presented the video project of the same name, which premiered on December 17 on the MEGOGO LIVE music channel and the MEGOGO media service.
Genre: metalcore, alternative metal
Release date: December 8
Number of tracks: 15
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
The Beautiful Dark of Life is the ninth full-length from Californian metallers Atreyu, featuring tracks from several EPs released earlier this year, as well as three new songs. The album boasts a dynamic pace, although there will be an opportunity to take a breather, for example, on the lyrical tracks I Don’t Wanna Die or Forevermore.
In general, strict bearded men in leather jackets, under juicy guitar riffs, will alternate frantic screams and wonderful singing with clean vocals, clearly difficult moments with frankly pop ones, and will also be serious, not forgetting to be ironic in the clips.
There are also some cool guitar solos and a guest guest on the track Death or Glory – the winner of the American “X-Factor” in the duo Alex & Sierra, Sierra Deaton. It turned out to be quite a solid work and one of the few in December, performed in a heavy genre.
Genre: melodic death metal
Release date: December 15
Number of tracks: 19
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
In 2019, Children of Bodom played their last concert, A Chapter Called Children of Bodom, in Helsinki before the band called it quits. In fact, this live album is a nostalgic, but at the same time very sad reason for all fans to finally say goodbye to their beloved band and its virtuoso guitarist and frontman Oleksii Laiho, who died at the end of December 2020.
An entire era of more than a quarter of a century has come to an end, during which the Finnish death metallers released ten studio albums and became a true icon of the genre. It is thanks to the remarkable creative heritage that Laiho and the company inscribed their names in the history of heavy music in golden letters.
Genre: Christmas carols, Christmas songs, and chapel
Release date: December 15
Number of tracks: 4
Where to listen: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music
Khrystyna Solovii also released her own Christmas mini-collection. In her desire, to quote the official description, “to combine traditional Ukrainian motifs and modern sounds”, the singer is doing the same work as Yulia Yuryna and Roksolana, who also took ritual songs as a basis and modernized them, while retaining Ukrainian authenticity.
For example, “God was born on a sleigh” is a carol that appeared from the poems “Christmas” and “Carol” by Bohdan Ihor-Antonych, and “In the green forest” is a lyrical version of an old maiden song.
