Julie wanted a Christmas tree,
Until she fell into poverty.
House is cold and the lights are off,
And now she's getting a nasty cough.
It's cold now, it's cold now, it must be Christmas
It's cold now, it's cold now, it must be Christmas
Suzie's gonna have a good time,
She found a bottle of cheap mulled wine.
Her mistletoe was bought in vain,
She's having fun with a Candy Cane
It's cold now, it's cold now, it must be Christmas
It's cold now, it's cold now, it must be Christmas
Raymond's drinking a miniature.
Hide's the bottle in the furniture.
He lost his job in the building trade,
Now he's a Santa at least he's paid.
It's cold now, it's cold now, it must be Christmas
It's cold now, it's cold now, it must be Christmas
‘Cold Christmas’ was written for the annual ‘A Very Cherry Christmas’ compilation by Cherryade Records, and was released on its own right as a digital single on 9th December 2002 via Happy Robots.
This is no Cliff Richard Christmas hit though. A relentless krautrock beat propels a driving synth bass line, layered with Cromwell’s signature ARP synth strings and a thumping bass guitar. It is the most knowingly gothic song that Cromwell has released to date.
As the UK descends into another round of austerity, the lyrics of ‘Cold Christmas’ are like ‘Eleanor Rigby’ turbo-charged for 2022. “Julie wanted a Xmas tree, until she fell into poverty, the house is cold and the lights are off, and now she’s getting a nasty cough”.
‘Cold Christmas’ was recorded in Cromwell’s home studio in Catford, London and was produced by Dom Cresswell at Studio AUW in Kent.
On 13/12/2023 the single was expanded to feature two new remixes. The new maxi-single includes the Milan ‘Paris to Versailles’ remix. Milan is the project of artist composer James Tapping, originally from the UK, now residing in Paris. His mix strips-away the darker elements, placing the vocals over a backing that combines elements of EDM and classic synthpop in the style of Pet Shop Boys.
The second remix comes from Happy Robots remix stalwart AUW of Retro Synth Records and curator of the successful DUSKWAVES synthwave events. His mix swings through chillwave, tech-house and synthwave.
Since the release of his debut 'Age of Anxiety' album, Rodney Cromwell has been featured by the likes of NME, Electronic Sound, Huffington Post, Paste, Shindig!, Louder Than War, The Big Takeover, Magic RPM and the Bandcamp homepage. He’s had national radio play in Japan, Finland, Germany and multiple spins on RTE in Ireland, on BBC 6 Music in the UK and RNE3 in Spain for whom he recorded a live session.
The Rodney Cromwell live set is a joyful mixed-media extravaganza, incorporating analogue synths, video visuals and live instrumentation, interjected by Rodney’s 'offbeat wit'' (NME). His debut festival appearance at Indietracks was described as 'like a spiritual experience". He has shared stages with acts including A Flock of Seagulls, Pram, Death & Vanilla, Marsheaux, Rowetta, M!R!M, Damo Suzuki and Steve Davis. In 2022 he recorded a live session for Electronic Sound and in the autumn played a series of dates with Blancmange.
credits
released December 13, 2023
Written and Recorded by Adam C Cresswell
Produced by Dom Cresswell at Studio AUW
Artwork by Martin J Langthorne
A stellar cast of artists put their own shadowy spins on recent Bestial Mouths material—toward the goth club floor or into pure noise. Bandcamp New & Notable May 11, 2021