As the holiday season approaches, the time for Christmas-themed music comes and one of the first cuts to be featured for the 2024 rotation is Karma’s ‘Mistletoe’. A blend of upbeat, radio-friendly pop, reassuring lyrics, and a minimal, but fruity, composition, Karma’s contribution sets a high bar for what’s to follow.
Memphis, Tennessee based trio Karma is composed of KB, Keymah Renee & Miesha MonRoe, a group of friends drawn together by a shared passion for music. The trio brag about not adhering to any particular genres, instead opting to freeform and roll with whatever works best for the project at hand, and while it would be hard to test the mettle of this claim using just the one song, ‘Mistletoe’ tells us at least the trio could heed no real attention to what a Christmas sound should sound like.
Indeed, ‘Mistletoe’ is paradoxically both unquestionably about Christmas, and also a sound that would be relevant all year round. Perhaps the gentle bells set a strong tone for a decidedly Christmas-y theme, also the lyrics and the warm, approachable vocal melodies and deliveries, mostly undramatic, just welcoming and sweet. The composition is simple and easy to follow with a mostly minimal arrangement to highlight the bittersweetness in the chord sequences.
The production is world-class on this Christmas anthem. A sound the trio describes as a blend between Destiny’s Child and TLC, we can find no better description to put to this punchy, sweet, and soulful early celebration for the holidays of a tumultuous year.