The Parlotones Announce “STRIKE THE HARP”(Christmas) Album And Unveil New Music Videos

The Parlotones have unveiled their brand new album ‘STRIKE THE HARP’. A project that has been in the back of lead singer Kahn Morbee’s mind for many years is finally set to add to their vast discography in the form of a Christmas album which out now on CD through Gallo Record Company and available from today, Friday 11 December, across all digital platforms from http://africori.to/striketheharp. 

‘STRIKE THE HARP’ Album Available Now From:
http://africori.to/striketheharp

The idea of a Christmas / XMAS album has long been something lead vocalist Kahn Morbee has always considered and when lockdown was implemented, the band took the decision to make use of the initial time at home to start putting ideas together of what the album was going to be before heading in to studio once the Government lifted elements of lockdown to do so – this took place at High Seas Studios in Johannesburg to once again work with Jacques ‘Jambo’ du Plessis.

Guitarist, Paul Hodgson recalls the process putting the album together, saying “When we decided to record a Christmas / XMAS album, we knew we wanted at least two originals and the rest would be covers. Kahn and Glen ended up writing four original songs and then we needed to choose some classic Christmas songs to cover. Our first choices were the obvious ones; like ‘The First Noel’ and ‘Joy to the World’ and more recent ones like ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ and ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’, but we didn’t really feel inspired and saw there were already dozens of versions of these songs. So, we searched some more, finding the songs that weren’t quite as well-known or traditional. Eventually we found songs by such varied artists as Stevie Wonder, Laurika Rauch and Joni Mitchell, and spent some time putting our own vibe to these songs. Neil really wanted to do ‘Drummer Boy’, and despite our reservations, the album producer and Neil put together a cool structure which then was further worked on by the rest of the band and Kahn reworked the lyrics to more represent a Christmas in the sunny South African summer. In general, we tried to slightly alter lyrics about snow and winter to reflect the sun and sea that many South Africans associate with Christmas. We tried to inject a sense of optimism, hope and lightheartedness into the album and artwork to counter the tough year 2020 has been, but a few melancholic songs still made their way onto the album to provide a wide variety of emotions. We didn’t want to entirely neglect the traditional Christmas songs many of us grew up singing and listening to, so instead of full versions of these songs we instead added just a few lines into songs we had already written. Listen out for snippets of ‘Noel Noel’, ‘Deck the Halls’, and ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ (and even the classic Dickens novella A Christmas Carol).”
The release of the ‘STRIKE THE HARP’ album also sees two festive music videos released for the singles ‘I’ve Been A Good Boy Santa’ and ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’.

Watch the music videos here:
‘I’ve Been A Good Boy Santa’: https://youtu.be/qzO_mFG7WVQ
‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’: https://youtu.be/yHeVCt3r8Ac

“We’ll see what happens”, says Kahn. “It has always been something that I have wanted to do and we’re hoping to bring some light hearted tongue-in-cheek feel good vibes to what has been a pretty heavy year for everyone by spreading some festive cheer with a Parlotones-style Christmas  album, that hopefully fans both old and new enjoy.”

The Parlotones will also be performing live at the following venues, so catch them live at:
11 Dec – Platteland, Centurion
18 Dec – Barnyard Suncoast, Durban
19 Dec – Fiamma Ballito (Dinner & Show)

“The Parlotones – STRIKE THE HARP” Album Is Available Online, Streaming Platforms and In All Good Music Stores Nationwide – http://africori.to/striketheharp 

Tracklisting:

1. The Ghost of Christmas Past
2. Happy Xmas
3. I’ve Been a Good Boy Santa
4. The River
5. Cigarettes and Whiskey
6. Under the Sun (Drummer Boy)
7. Bells on the Streets
8. Kyk Hoe Glinster Die Maan
9. That’s What Christmas Means to Me
10. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
11. Auld Christmas Time
12. New Year’s Day