A Christmas miracle from Murphy's band of bittersweet gloom.
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A flash snowstorm of an LCD Soundsystem return appeared in our Christmas stockings, almost five years after the parting of ways. As James Murphy and the band rip through the festive charade with their typical incisive honesty and schadenfreude-inducing depression poetry eight years in the making, the adage of absence making the heart grow fonder proves itself. Trimmed from 75 lines to “keep the suicide rate in check”, ‘Christmas Will Break Your Heart’ serves as a fitting extension to their previous trembling finale.
“Christmas will break your heart / if you’re feeling small / and there’s no one on your phone / you feel close enough to call,” whispers Murphy over obligatory jingling. Escalating to a climax of anguished roars and increasingly frantic yet delicate piano, nostalgia takes hold and the fermata is forgiven. A chorus so simple and sweet, a subtle “But still I’m coming home to you” piercing through the agony of the holidays, seals the letter.
Some might call it a Christmas miracle. If this is the start of something new, surely our hearts will mend.
‘Christmas Will Break Your Heart’ is out now via DFA Records.
