Artist SJ Denney based in Benfleet, UK, released an exquisite holiday song called “Wishful Thinking”, on the 2nd of December that will juggle your emotions as you glide into the festive season. Having a pretty busy year with releasing 4 singles and 2 EPs, Denney is a solo singer and songwriter based in Essex, who fell in love with music at a very young age because of an accidental encounter across some vinyl copies of the Beatles’ white album. He was originally a choir boy and then played some clarinet. This is his first Christmas song ever, and what he really focused on in the song is how to produce a Christmas song that has balance in originality and cliches which calls for an eye for detail and a creative mindset.
Denney succeeded in making this song sound really distinct from your usual Christmas carol. It can really tend to become boring to hear the same tune and ideas over and over, especially in Christmas music which is naturally overly saturated. The overall sound of the song has a beautiful Christmas allure wrapped up in encouraging lyrical content. The song speaks about how Christmas is in many ways a new beginning and encourages continuing your life in an exciting and magical way. The best thing about the song is that it promotes Christmas feeling in a way that isn’t hyper-fixated on the event itself but rather what it really feels like to celebrate such a festivity!
The soundscape is a melodic prop one that is heartfelt. It feels like music from a fairytale. The musical arrangement is special, with what seems to be like a shuffling method of the same melody between the piano, xylophone, and violin that follows the highs and lows of Denney’s vocals. The effect is very beautiful and the instruments are soft yet prominent. Something noticeable is that Denney used the jingle bell sound effects at the very end of the song, something that we expect to hear in a Christmas song from beginning to end. Creative and passionate, this is the out-of-the-box Christmas tune that you’ve been waiting to hear!