Singer Dianña is out to make our Christmases merry and bright with her new single and music video “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe,” which is available everywhere indie seasonal tunes are sold and streamed this month. Dianña masterfully captivates us from the moment we press play on this track, gripping us with a surreal rhythm that slowly unfolds under the weight of her smoky vocals. There’s no centralized climax in “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe,” but rather an extended melody that softly wraps us in a blanket of textured notes that feel particularly warm and comforting this time of year.
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Both the video and the single are very simple by design. The video features little more than surface aesthetics that do everything they can to compliment the foundational tone of the lyrics – our songstress belts out the words with a sensuous self-control that many artists twice her age could only dream of one day possessing, and even when the band tries to add a little flash to the pan they never come close to eclipsing her presence. There’s nothing in this track to separate her from the listeners; only bold instrumentation cushioning the verses of an even bolder vocalist.
Dianña is elegant and composed as she wanders through the lyrics with wonderment that is as fetching as the newly fallen snow. She has this sophisticated quality about her that makes every word feel heavenly; when the pace of the band behind her slows, we know it’s only to make room for one of her walloping vocal ascents. The melodies are as big as skyscrapers in this song, and even though scores of artists could have applied their own special varnish to its bones, you could make the case that none have done quite what Dianña has with its framework.
Whether you like Christmas music or not, this is a swinging groove to get lost in no matter what time of year it is. The mix is loud and boisterous allowing for even the smallest of details in the rhythm to feel so much bigger and defined than they would have been otherwise. Everything we’re listening to is built on the groundwork of Dianña’s startlingly expansive vocal range, which is put to the test in this song but proves strong and durable. It’s hard to make a holiday-themed track sweet enough to play well outside of its intended context, but this talented artist manages to make it look simple.
This holiday season you’ll possibly hear Dianña’s “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” playing back in your mind after at least a single listen ahead of your holiday shopping, but the great irony is that her song is one of the least commercial in this genre that I’ve heard in years. Her direction of the melody is refined, the tonality is brilliant and we never feel like she’s trying to sell us something that isn’t quite herself. It’s a good idea to peek at this single and its supporting video before December 25th rolls around, if for no other reason than to add to your holiday 2023 playlist.
Rachel Townsend