Tis the season for classic Christmas songs to be covered by your favorite bands. Best Ex is hopping on the holiday bandwagon with a cover of Wham!’s classic “Last Christmas” that you probably know all too well.
Preparing for Christmas, Best Ex Dirty up Christmas Classic
The Best Ex sound on this track sounds straight out of Scott Pilgrim VS The World. While the original is decked through and through in typical ’80s pop fashion, Bext Ex took Wham!’s ’80s sound and rocked it up, creating more modern synth patterns and sounds alongside grungy distorted guitar and ringing jingle bells.
Vocalist and guitarist Mariel Loveland explained Best Ex chose “Last Christmas” because it’s one of the Christmas songs that make you feel instantly happy. The second you hear those opening chords, just about anyone can pull the name of the Wham! classic, like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” but with fewer Vines made about it.
Loveland even called the track an anti-Christmas song. “It’s heartbreaking and the love interest isn’t even likable. The person is described as little more than exceptionally cruel and cold,” said Loveland. “I’m also a sucker for ’80s camp and Hallmark Christmas movies, which is the stuff this song is made of. I wanted to keep those vibes in my version of the song while dirtying up that pristine pop sound a bit.”
This is exactly what Best Ex does with the track. With deep synth-filled bass lines throughout the verses following the distorted guitar lines in the chorus and instrumental sections, it dirties up what once was and could still have been pop. Deepening the sound that Wham! didn’t bring in the ’80s, this fresh twist breaths new life while keeping true to the original, melody-wise.
Best Ex, formerly Candy Hearts, just debuted Ice Cream Anti Social under their new name in July. The band had previously released three critically praised, full-length albums and a handful of EPs, amassing dedicated fans around the world. Now signed to No Sleep Records, the band plans on releasing new music and touring in 2018.
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