The Christmas charity single is back in 2015, and in Milton Keynes, Ocasan are the ones at the helm.
Unlike others you will have heard in the past, Welcome to the World doesn’t feature Bono warbling across it, either.
Which is all the Christmas present we need, frankly.
The raucous rockers employed the voices of MK Music Service’s Junior Choir and roped in cellist Nicole Collarbone for Welcome to the World. All proceeds will be going to Save the Children,
“Every year, around this time, we always say that we’d like to record a Christmas song and we’re too late,” said drummer Luke McDonnell.
“We wrote this track during the summer and thought it fits perfectly.
“Lyrically, the song summarised is ‘We’re lucky to be here on this planet, take advantage and just be nice!”
Every good Yuletide song needs a brass section, and Ocasan don’t disappoint – they employed the talents of Liberty Drum Corpse for theirs.
Aside from advising you how to become someone you can be proud of, Ocasan provide a nice line or two of real practical stuff that everyone should heed, ‘Watch out for songs filled with bad advice, As you age you’ll constantly change, so try and hold on to your adolescent brain...and don’t eat yellow snow, you know,’ they say.
Be sure to do as they say, boys and girls!
Welcome to the World will be released through iTunes on December 1.
Support local talent and help swell the funds for charity.
It’s a win-win.
Ocasan aren’t alone in their charity single quest this Yuletide either...
> A couple of years back singer-songwriter Ian Roberts released the Sweetlove Butterfly single.
He is also releasing a seasonal delivery, this one to benefit Shelter and The Trussell Trust – the charity responsible for many of the Food Bank hubs in the country.
In October, Ian was among 7000 musicians who gave their time for free to stage more than 250 gigs across the country that were admission by food only, to swell the Food Banks tocks.
In one weekend, a whopping £150,000 was raised.
Buzzing from the fundraising and keen to do more, the idea for a Christmas single quickly presented itself.
And so the seeds of the track, Christmas at our House, were sown.
Recording – in part – took place at Ousedale School in Newport Pagnell, before the material was sent to New Jersey, where producer Tom Corea got to work mixing the track.
“Tom and I chatted daily over Skype, it was like being in the studio with him trying to find the very best sound that we could for the song,” Ian said.
It is sounding amazing, technology today enables us to do such wonderful things.”
A grand song needs a grand video – and Olney is the backdrop for Christmas at our House.
Filming took place last Friday, and plenty of familiar faces are waiting to be spotted.
The video will be on YouTube and the track will be available to download from November 30, through iTunes and the other usual download sites.
Monies raised will be split between Shelter and The Trussell Trust, and the single will also shine a spotlight on Ian’s own IndieGO Collective Charity operating here in MK.
Visit www.ianrobeertsmusic.org
