“Jingle Jangle” is a funky-soul seasons greeting. Sung soulfully, with sultry female backing vocal by Kyla Lyn Vezna, it’s built upon an easygoing bass line, and goes out to anyone and everyone within earshot. It’s intended to make the season bright (and also a little funky).
There are jingling bells on the track, but it comes off more like a soft blues workout, with gruff lead vocals and stinging guitar lines. If “Merry Christmas, Baby” is just your speed when it comes to holiday music, this song will hit you in just the right spot. It’s a spirited song, without a whole lot of pressure. It makes you want to sit back and take it all in. It’s for those that want to relax, put a fire on, have something to drink and eat and just enjoy yourself. It intentionally avoids all the hustle and bustle of parking and then shopping at the mall, where you’re crowded, hurried and shoulder-to-shoulder with all the other shoppers. No, it’s just you, your food and drink, and find music on the stereo.
Walter Rossi was inspired by the innovators and pioneers, like Elvis Presley and Duane Eddy, and it shows. He sings like an old school soul singer, while he plays smart guitar lines between verses. He “feels like rockin’” this time of year, so he’s laid down a simple but effective holiday song. Just because people seem to get all uppity around Christmas time, doesn’t mean Rossi also needs to get sucked into all the hassle. Like the best soul music, Rossi makes this song’s execution sound easy and effortless. He’s doing at Christmas time what he’s been doing all year long, one imagines, which is making happy music.
In addition to the song’s R&B-inspired vocal, there is also plenty of acoustic piano on the track. He’s not trying to argue about the ‘true’ meaning of Christmas or send out a religious message. Instead, he’s just trying to have a good time and express the happiness Christmas makes him feel. And at the end of the day, isn’t that just like many of us? Granted, most of us can’t sing and play the way he does. However, we’re oftentimes so stressed out most of the year, so let’s cool down and take it easy for Christmas. We’re off from work, and hopefully, we’re able to have family gathered around us.
In fact, it’s so pop-sounding, you may not even recognize it as a holiday song at first. It’s a love song, but also a love song to a holiday. Over a bubbling bass line, Rossi points out the colors and feelings that always make him lighthearted and bright. When he sings “seasons greetings to all humanity,” he’s basically giving us an aural Christmas card. He’s enjoying himself, so you should be having a good time, too. “No time for feeling blue,” he reminds us.
This isn’t an especially innovative Christmas song, but it’s nonetheless enjoyable and effective. Hopefully, it gets listeners in just the right mood to celebrate the holiday.
-Dan MacIntosh
