The first half of the CD is filled with “ye olde classics” such as Joy to the World, Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful arranged with orchestrated classical strings and a prom style performance. The second half ventures more into a cut back, groovier take on Christmas songs featuring more modern and unusual Christmas tunes. There is a nice variation between the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, and the lavish and the restrained. Christmas From the Heart is a fantastically balanced album truly possessing something for everyone.

Each track has its own moments of vocal magic. Silent Night demonstrates that soft fuzzy quality to his voice better than any other song I have heard him sing, whilst O Holy Night and Ave Maria enable David to take the bull by the horns and belt.  David manages to capture the spiritual heart of each song so wonderfully, enhancing the beauty of Silent Night and elevating the joy in The First Noel, to name just a couple of songs. Joy to the World lets David put his take on a very traditional Christmas tune and inject some big vocals. O Holy Night gradually ascends into an epic collision of beautiful melody and David’s voice, accompanied by a full orchestra.  This is a track not for the faint of heart. Truly epic.

Towards the latter end of the CD we encounter some more unusual songs with a more modern sound.  Two personal highlights of the album include Pat a Pan, a rather unexpected pleasure, and Riu Riu Chiu. The former includes a snippet of French and the latter is sung entirely in Spanish. Pat a Pan begins with a cheeky little melody but emerges into a grooving soft rock song with some superb dramatic string work and an energetic chord progression. Riu Riu Chiu plays off a simple melodic hook but continues to build to an absolutely superb climax. Spanish is such a wonderful language and David performs this song with strong emotion and understanding.

A jazzy duet with Charice Pempengco, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, sits as a highlight of the album.  David has a chance to display his wonderful blues/soul intuition. The two voices blend wonderfully, and Charice shows tasteful restraint. Not quite sure why, but memories of Aladdin and Jasmine spring to mind when listening to this song. Maybe A Whole New World should be next on the list?! Haha.

Ave Maria is one of the most commonly covered songs ever sung. It has been performed by the truly, truly great, and thus is subject to critical comparisons.  It has the ability to pack a powerful spiritual punch but must be executed to perfection in order to do so. David’s vocal performance on this track is nothing short of a masterpiece. At 18 years of age? What can you say, really?

The final track on the album is an original song, Melodies of Christmas. This song is the link the between the debut album and the current CD. The radio beat and simple hook make this track the best one to represent the album. Overall, I like the song. It has a decent melody and chord progression. It gets a little hectic towards the end and the lyrics are a little cheesy but hey, it’s Christmas, so maybe in December I’ll be able to let that pass. David brings an uplifting sense to this song, which I think will go down well when the time is right.

The album ticks a lot of boxes here. Vocally, I think the album is a masterpiece and I haven’t heard a major label commercial release with awesome singing for a very long time. One major box I felt was un-ticked by the first album was the production value. In an earlier review, I raised major concerns with the sound, cohesion and direction of the production of the first CD, but I feel this album is a huge step forward. I was fearful that the orchestras would sound tacky, but was surprised at the lavish sound.  David’s voice sounds pure and the arrangements are, with a few exceptions, tasteful yet powerful.

There is something here for everyone. Some will enjoy the more traditional and orchestrated sound, and others will take more of a shine to the stripped-back modern stuff.  Leaving the merits of the concept aside, the album delivers in the quality. Christmas songs may not be what everyone wants David to do, but in terms of quality, the album merits itself as a very worthy Christmas album. David is growing, you can hear it both technically (Ave Maria’s climax note) and also stylistically (I’ll Be Home for Christmas). The future is looking brighter and brighter and the journey is still young, but I can say for sure – this is a very strong stepping stone along David’s path.

~chenson

(For those few people who don’t know him, chenson is a college student studying music,  and lives in the south of England.  He has hopes of becoming a session musician and writer, and has followed David pretty much since week one of AI.)

Prestige

The Hammersmith Apollo is a venue with prestige. Literally, everyone has played there and David gets to join those ranks. London’s premier theater venue was the stage for David’s biggest show in the U.K. in front of over 5,000 people, a show that I was fortunate enough to witness, even if it was only 30 minutes long.

To be able to have David in my own country performing at that sort of venue is a blessing and a suitable measure of just how far he has come in 15 months. Long-term music careers are not built overnight and David is making certain headway with his. The future sounds ever more exciting.

Hammersmith Apollo, London

Warm reaction

I envied the McFly fans in a way. I sat there listening to David, having heard his voice almost every day for 15 months. I am fortunate to have heard him live once before. For so many of these people, it was their first time to witness what we all so love. Sitting there in this audience I realized just how infectious it is, how captivating he is. I have been to many, many gigs, some with great support acts, some with some terrible ones. But never have I seen such a warm reaction to an opening act. Cameras were everywhere, people were bouncing, swaying and even singing along in Angels.

Control from start to finish

“He’s too good to be an opening act,” said one group of girls who stood behind me at the show. I couldn’t agree more. David literally has the audience from the word go. As a support act, that is no easy task. I can honestly say I’ve only ever seen one band come close, once before.

Maintaining interest and energy levels with an audience that is unfamiliar with your music, and with you as an artist and a person, is difficult. David had control from start to finish and you could sense that people were being taken in.

I am always baffled as to how certain critics can claim David has no personality yet. All I see is someone who captures the audience with that personality, that aura, with that tenderness, warmth, energy and expression. For some, it may not be the personality they want to see on TV, but when you witness it in person, it is undeniable.

Zero Gravity and Angels

David doesn’t just love music, he lives and breathes it. Any person who has followed David for some time knows of David’s passion and enthusiasm for music. They’ve heard him randomly spacing out, singing word-triggered melodies. They’ve heard stories of him reading Billboard books. He’s also been called a “human jukebox” by Mike Krompass, the guitarist in his band.

The difference between now and when I last saw David back in September, is that he has improved the channeling of that musical passion into his performances. David commented in his latest blog that he is trying to lose himself more in his performances and the improvement is noticeable, with fantastic results. He moves around the stage now with more freedom and energy than he ever did before and no longer seems inhibited or self-aware. A performer like that is so much easier to enjoy, especially if you are new to them.

Zero Gravity encapsulates this improvement. Here David has found a song that he can lose himself in, and the energy and enthusiasm he brings is simply infectious and exciting. In both the Croydon show and Hammersmith, the whole room was bouncing by the final chorus.

However, no song that David sings tops Angels for passion. David has this ability to get under my skin and tear me up. Despite my best efforts, yes, I cried. The unexpected twists and turns that David brought to this song electrified the crowd, especially to a crowd of people who knew the song inside out. This was the song in the set that really demonstrated David as the prodigious vocalist he is. The runs combined with a voice that sang with vigor and passion. As Tom from McFly describes it, his voice is “magical.” It really is.

Just David

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a short period of time with him amongst other people after the Hammersmith show. It really struck me just how unaffected he is by fame. He really is just David. He ascends into this performing mode, but then comes straight back down to earth. Despite almost taking my eye out with one of the posters (I’ll forgive him though) he is just an amazingly kind, genuine and gentle human being. He spent more time with us than we ever could have wanted, and listened with such interest when it would have been so easy to just be uninterested and aloof.

Love of music reborn

Seeing David is addictive. I have been to two out of my three planned shows now and have not once seen McFly. But I still want to go to more, even though he only sings for 30 minutes at a time.

David encapsulates everything I love about music. Every time I hear him perform live, my love of music is reborn. Not only do I appreciate him more, my level of appreciation for all music heightens. I fall in love with his music and his voice all over again and I remember just what drew me to music throughout my entire life. I love that feeling of peace and emotion, and the sensual touches he brings to his songs.

He unites people who would possibly never have crossed paths otherwise, pulling people from all corners of the country and planet, all to share that gift that he brings to the stage. I don’t think he can ever comprehend the impact he has had on so many lives and the joy he brings to so many.

chenson and friends in London

The spirit and aura he brings of warmth, kindness and fun is invigorating. Being able to capture and emote that special feeling, and tell a story through music, is priceless. I have spent so much time and money on David. When I think about it, it’s pretty outrageous, but honestly, as someone who loves music, I could not think of a better way to spend it. Being able to share that gift with him on stage and then be around such a genuine and normal human being after, makes it that little bit extra special. That special spirit has begun to touch many more lives in the U.K.

— chenson

Editor’s note: This is how chenson describes himself on his blog: “I’m a teenage male music student from the UK with an enormous passion for music.” Visit his blog Always Archuleta for more pictures and more UK tour news.