REVIEW: Rob Alexander — Merry Christmas in Heaven (SINGLE)
You can’t fake the ‘it’ factor — you’ve either got it or you don’t, and Rob Alexander has something special in his new Christmas song “Merry Christmas in Heaven.” Although composed simplistically and marketed towards a variety of age groups as opposed to one alone, there’s a lot to marvel at from a compositional perspective in this track, and it starts with the poetic depth of Alexander himself. While his lyrical presence is limited and very barebones, it doesn’t come off without heart at all. Contrarily, this is a single that I could tell was performed from a place of affection right from the get-go, and if it’s just a sampling of what Alexander can do as a musician, I’d be curious to hear him compose more like it in the future.
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/robjalexandermd?lang=en
Although they’re as straightforward as it gets, the harmonies here are easy to fall in love with. There’s something all too beautiful about broken rhythm and lush melodic rhyming coming together in an excellently perfect fashion that gets an audiophile like me at any age, and while this was written with a Christmastime theme, I think it works a little better in a non-seasonal context, if for no other reason than it emphasizes the fantasy element of the verses — and the heart of their creator. Alexander is a musician and a creative type of person in general, and he’s letting his skills set the tone for every part of this song. Whether looking at this from an audience perspective or from that of another musician, “Merry Christmas in Heaven” has layers one can’t help but appreciate in all of their stereophonic glory.
There’s no need to bring any filler into this mix, and Alexander was right to keep it out of the arrangement completely here. The horn section is already a bit artificial beside the vocal, but the contrast spotlights the organic tonality of the harmonies better than putting straight strings and percussion behind our singer. It takes a calculated mind to make a track like this sound multidimensional rather than overwhelming and adorned with more color than most pop singles should be, but for all intents and purposes, I think the right musician was at the helm of this project. As an author and a singer/songwriter, this is an artist who knows exactly who he wants to be.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/merry-christmas-in-heaven/1640376393?i=1640376394
This is the right song for the winter season if you’re a kid of any age who still appreciates the fantasy of Christmas, and I think critics and audiences are going to agree when I say Rob Alexander shouldn’t stop making music anytime soon. He’s a man of many talents, and in this performance, he highlights some of his best creative output since starting up on the indie circuit out of Florida not long ago. “Merry Christmas in Heaven” isn’t the most sophisticated single you’re going to hear before the year has come to an end, but if nothing else it’s absolutely an example of well-arranged holiday songwriting that doesn’t feel saccharine nor soaked in a commerciality of the crudest (and most recycled) variety.
Colin Jordan
