Five Christmas tracks by Mumbai musicians that must be on your playlist

Keshia B composed her song Christmas in Mumbai to pay an ode to the Mumbai spirit during the pandemic. Pic/Shadab Khan

Of course, we all love Jingle Bell Rock. But what if we told you that there were a bunch of city musicians, who have released their own original Christmas songs, and covers, that you can rock out to as well? We, at Sunday mid-day, have narrowed it down to five musicians in the city, and five songs, you need to have on your playlist.

Christmas in Mumbai by Keshia B

Keshia B released her debut single, Christmas in Mumbai, last year

Known as the "Black Mama" of the Indian western music industry, Malad-based Keshia B has built an audience for her deep, soulful voice. Christmas in Mumbai, her R&B soul single, is her debut original song which she released last year in December. The 32-year-old who has been a part of church choirs and carol singing groups in her area. "But when you listen to the song," she says, "it talks about how it was to live in Mumbai during the pandemic, how people have changed and what it means to celebrate a festival now." The essence of this song was to bring forth the message of kindness, love and hope.

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The Best Christmas Ever by Gwen Fernandes

The Christmas album by Gwen Fernandes also has a Konkani cover

Growing up in a family of musicians, Gwen Fernandes, a Goan settled in Santa Cruz, released the album, The Best Christmas Ever, in 2020. Out of the eight-track cover album that includes popular Christmas carols and songs such as Blue Christmas, Holly Jolly Christmas, Let it Snow, Winter Wonderland and many others; what caught our eye is Feliz Navidad/Natalam which is a Konkani version of the popular Spanish carol. The 25-year-old singer-songwriter also has a Konkani YouTube channel where she posts a video a month, usually one of a hymn. "So when I was planning my Christmas album, I thought there had to be at least one Konkani song and I wrote my own lyrics from Feliz Navidad, related to life, happiness and togetherness," says Fernandes. She admits that her father enjoys listening to Konkani songs and also making other Konkani music fans smile with her rendition of the carol.

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For Christmas by Natania and Zaeden

Natania and Zaeden's song for Christmas is all about being with you're your loved ones during the holidays. Pic/Ashish Raje

We wrote this song in the middle of the pandemic," says Colaba export to Los Angeles, Natania Lalwani. She wrote For Christmas in collaboration with singer and producer Sahil Sharma aka Zaeden, and it released in 2020. The theme of the song was about being with your loved ones during Christmas: "I'm gonna be with you for Christmas. Ain't no way I'm gonna miss this." This song was inspired by Natania's own feeling of being stuck in LA during Christmas because of the pandemic, and not being able to come home to India. "Zaeden wanted to do a Christmas song and he reached out to me to co-write it but then I sang the demo and it sounded nice. We ended up collaborating. We got on to a zoom call and wrote it [the song] in about an hour," says the musician. The animated music video is cutesy and warm and will give you the complete Christmas vibe.

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Pic/Instagram

Christmas Time by Tubby and Samantha Noella

Tubby and Samantha Noella's Christmas Time features saxophonist Mark Hartsuch and a children's choir

Released in December last year, Christmas Time is definitely the right song to put you into the holiday spirit. Award-winning score composer Indrajit Sharma, better known as Tubby, got together with Samantha Noella, a singer, vocal coach and co-founder of Scattitude Academy of Music, for this Christmas-themed song which also features drummer Vinayak Pol and saxophonist Mark Hartsuch. "Being a professional musician and with my experience in various genres, I like to do happy, joyful and funky kinds of songs and the same is true for Christmas as well," says Tubby, who has been in the industry for around 34 years. The song is about celebrating the festival with family and friends and making it a happy, joyous time as, "the lyrics talk about family coming together, making sweets and other simple things." "I always see Christmas as an international festival and not just Indian. So, the influences have to be western, more upbeat and that is how I conceptualised it," adds Tubby. Besides Noella's soaring vocals, and Hartsuch's subtle sax composition which gave a brass element, what caught our eye was the children's choir from Noella's music academy. "When I wrote this song, I was very clear that I wanted Samantha but I also wanted to use a children's choir and luckily, she had a bunch of students in her school who were very good."

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Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire by Vasundhara Vee

Vasundhara Vee, a jazz singer grew up singing in choirs. Pic Courtesy/Vijay Kate

One of the country's finest jazz and blues singers, Vasundhara Vee released a cover of Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire with pianist and composer Ron Cha. The original song was released by American jazz musician Nat King Cole. Hailing from a polytheistic family, Vasundhara grew up singing in choirs. "Choir, carols and knowing music as a ‘community activity' was a big part of my upbringing," she adds. As a jazz musician, she believes that Christmas carols have the tendency to lend themselves to a lot of interpretation. "Carols give us an emotional master-reset at the end of the year. We reconnect with the child within us. We allow more space for faith, prayer, blessings, magic and miracles," she adds.

We can't help but appreciate her soulful vocals and Cha's beautiful piano composition complimenting her voice, almost like a lullaby on a cosy Christmas night.

Available on YouTube