ABC Music
Release Date: November 17th 2023
Reviewed by Joshua Andre
Dami Im– Christmas Songbook (Amazon mp3/iTunes)
Track Listing:
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Baby’s First Christmas Day
- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (feat. James Morrison)
- What Child Is This
- White Christmas
- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Winner of the X Factor Australia in 2012, Dami Im has gone from strength to strength, and has wowed us all time and time again with her powerful and angelic voice, as well as her relatable and personal original songs, and compelling covers. It’s a well-known fact that Dami Im isn’t extremely popular in Australia (leave it to other artists like Guy Sebastian, Delta Goodrem, Kylie Minogue, Sia, John Farnham, Keith Urban and Jessica Mauboy to name a few; to claim that mantle!), nor is Dami internationally famous like artists Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, OneRepublic, Daughtry or P!NK. Yet there’s no denying Dami’s prowess as a singer and a songwriter, which is indeed very reliable and strong, and no doubt be recognised and realised in the coming months by hopefully almost everyone. Then again, perhaps Dami’s fans and success may only be confined to Australia.
But by the way Dami has churned out the releases at high quality (Dami Im in 2013, Heart Beats in 2014, Classic Carpenters in 2016, I Hear A Song in 2018, and My Reality in 2021, not to mention singles “Smile”, “Sound Of Silence” and “Fighting For Love”, and her live EP in 2019), it seems that she may not be perturbed or fazed by the lack of success. Either way, the world’s loss is Australia’s gain, and that’s ever more on display than in Dami’s latest EP, the holiday project Christmas Songbook. If you want to read more about Dami and her rise to success, you can read my blog about Dami here; but as it is coming up to Christmas and quickly, let us dive deep into the ‘pages’ of Christmas Songbook, shall we? It seems like for almost every music artist, it is a rite of passage to record a Christmas album or EP at least once in their career. And as such, is Dami’s effort impressive, run of the mill, or downright uninteresting?
Well… that depends on your preference of original Christmas songs v traditional carols and your view on carols v holiday songs. The arrangements and music on each of these melodies are inspiring and encouraging, and Dami’s voice is never better here. But if your opinion on the songs themselves of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Little Drummer Boy, “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”, “What Child Is This?”, “White Christmas”, and the severely overplayed “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (2 carols v 4 holiday songs) are all indifferent or negative, then your enjoyment of this EP, of which all six aforementioned songs are present, will undoubtedly be impacted in an adverse or detrimental way. Now this is not a diss to this album/EP, but the arrangements, though inspiring, are pretty standard, and though I myself love Dami and her music, the casual listener may not connect with these songs due to the EP being not exciting or creative or adventurous enough. There, I said it. Dami’s Christmas EP is fine, but personally, I wouldn’t seek it out to actively listen to, and I’d much rather listen to Pentatonix’s new Christmas album before this. Similar in style to Christmas albums from David Campbell, Mark Vincent or even Michael Bublé; Christmas Songbook is objectively impressive, but it undoubtedly may take some time to subjectively appreciate and love the songs present here. “Baby’s First Christmas Day”, the lone original, is a holiday song about Santa coming to share in the festivities to celebrate Dami’s son’s first Christmas (perhaps the song was written before December 2022?); and this sums up the EP entirely. It’s a nice song, but with limited staying power.
Will Dami Im’s Australian success mean international success? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is for sure- that she is one artist that you all should listen to, as Dami’s vocals and songwriting is nothing short of brilliant. Don’t believe me? Well, start off with listening to My Reality. However, Christmas Songbook is ok, but hardly anything to ‘champion’ given the apparent lack of musical creativity here. If you love Dami and her music though, then you won’t be disappointed with this EP, but for those wanting a bit more originality, then try Michael W. Smith’s Every Christmas.
3 songs to listen to: The Little Drummer Boy, What Child Is This, White Christmas
Score: 3/5
RIYL: Delta Goodrem, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Natasha Bedingfield