Christmas is supposed to be a happy time of the year, full of joy and hope and dreams. Yet for some, Christmas is met with reminders of loneliness, regrets from the year past, and general disappointment. From his full-length release; A Spoonful of Greece, Sarantos releases his take on this feeling of prevailing dread with Same Old Christmas. Sarantos is known for using his colorful metaphors and vivid imagery as he weaves poetic magic in his indie/experimental rock sound. With Same Old Christmas we get much of the same, a narrative of sweeping malaise at this time of year. “I’ve gone thru my life, But I can’t enjoy the ride, Played it safe no lucky break, I never had a seat on Santa’s sleigh.” This overtone of sadness when one should be happy surmised by; “But when the time has come, Those disappointing bells have rung, It’s the same old Christmas.” Of course, in true Sarantos fashion, he is not one to be weighed down by this misery. He will rise above it, and continue to reach for his dreams, expectations, and hopes. “Every single year, As December’s drawing near, I put my hope in Christmas, Cause I always love Christmas.” and in the epitaph of his journey, he comes full circle; “I just need help, Learning not to run away, So I’ll just say, Merry Christmas to you.” A beautifully choreographed narrative for a wonderful time of year. Leave it to Sarantos to find a voice for those who don’t seem to have one of their own.

Accompanied by a wonderful piano melody and a pulsating steady groove which drives the rhythm, Sarantos incorporates jingle bells in the most opportune times to capture the hidden Christmas spirit always seeping into his lyrical form. The effective instrumentation is coupled by the dynamic range of Sarantos’ voice as he pushes his register into higher registers than he normally sings, He does this highly effectively, maybe it’s the magic of Christmas that gives him his angelic inflection. Same Old Christmas tells more than just a story; it captures the entire circulating moods and emotions of everyone during the holiday scramble. It holds the listener close and tells them, you are not alone, and it is this empathetic approach that makes this track so very enjoyable. The hook from the chorus section elicits a sing-along response in the audience, as the performance builds tension throughout each verse and bridge. It is these qualities that make Same Old Christmas marketable, and should see success on Adult Contemporary, or Soft Rock commercial radio formats.

–Lee Callaghan