Music has been embedded in my life ever since I was in the womb, my Mum and Dad basically raised me on music, especially POP music! I grew up listening to Madonna, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Spice Girls, Britney Spears….even AQUA! I love sharing my favourite songs and album every month with the world from Scene HQ! Feel free to check out my socials here 🙂 and here’s your (festive) #DaleyPOP playlist for this month: click HERE. P.s. merry little Christmas to one and all!

Wheatus – Christmas Dirtbag

Wheatus have dropped a certified Christmas classic!

Remember Teenage Dirtbag? SUCH A GOOD SONG, and now we’ve been given a festive version which I’m actually so excited plus it’s December now so as Mariah Carey says….IT’S TIME!

Wheatus frontman BBB (aka Brendan B Brown) said: “I wanted to honour our beloved band dog Buddy, who left us this past summer, just before we started our UK & Irish tour. Gabrielle had written me into the lyric for Christmas Dirtbag as a kid whom Santa had forgotten about.” and “Buddy always felt neglected when it came to treats, even though he got the MOST treats, so I thought, ‘…Well, I’ll just have to become a dog who likes AC/DC for the video then’… and wrote the treatment replacing myself with Buddy.” nawww my eyes are leaking🥹watch the cute and silly video above.

Gabriel Garzón-Montano – MARMALADE

Gabriel Garzón-Montano has dropped new single MARMALADE, his first original release since his 2020 album Agüita.

The track, written and produced by Garzón-Montano (such a talented guy), arrives via a video directed by Rodolfo Muñante Mariátegui shot in Peru.

The song is an experimental mix of R&B, electronic/alternative, sees Garzón-Montano at his most introspective – it’s a happy/sad song full of epiphanies, dealing with the high highs and low lows of being an artist and the changes that are natural through life.

Garzón-Montano said: “It’s about hedonism – self destruction – trying to be gentle… I wrote it at a time when I was overcome by grief and crisis. I forced myself to write it at first and then happened upon a delicious experience. Minimalism stole my heart again. I love the chords.”

Nina Nesbitt – Christmas Time Again

Scottish artist Nina Nesbitt has given us a Christmas pressie early! Nina said “I’ve always been a big fan of the festive season and dreamt of writing my own song. I’m so excited to have written Christmas Time Again this year, which is a step-by-step guide to my ideal Christmas! Think driving home to a small town, going to the pub and hearing this song played by the local band on Christmas Eve.” totes relatable.

Nina said if you love “Christmas, dogs, awkward conversations with relatives or family friends, a love of wine, garden reindeer, small towns, ceiling stars, and carol singing,” you should listen to “Christmas Time Again.” will do!

Gossip – Crazy Again

The Beth Ditto-fronted indie icons are back baby! The Standing In The Way Of Control trio are releasing their sixth album Real Power in March (2024 obvs), produced by Rick Rubin.

It was good old Rick Rubin who encouraged the band to get back together and start recording again after they celebrated the album’s 10th anniversary in 2019 so yeah, I for one am glad they’re back.

Jimmy Fallon and Meghan Trainor – Wrap Me Up

The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and pop star Meghan Trainor are obviously feeling festive already with their new song Wrap Me Up (snap btw, putting up the christmas tree tonight woo).

Jimmy said “If you know me, you know that I love the holidays. I love holiday music and if it were up to me, I will listen to Jingle Bells in August,” and “I’ve always wanted to do something with Meghan Trainor.” Jimmy sent a voice clip of a christmas song called Wrap It Up to the Megs and performed a bit of the melody. “I didn’t hear back from Meghan,” but a few weeks later he got a call from Megs who had spiced up the song and renamed it.

“She goes, ‘Hey, I took your idea, and instead of Wrap It Up I made it into Wrap Me Up, like, I’m the gift. You know, like, Hey, you’re looking at it.’ I was like, I love this,” he said.

“So she played me the song. And let me tell you something, she can sing,” he continued. “This song is a bop. The song is a banger. This song eats. This song slaps.” COULDN’T. AGREE. MORE!

Mahmood – COCKTAIL D’AMORE

I’ll be honest with you huns….I prefer Soldi by Mahmood, but the two time Italian Sanremo winner and Eurovision representative can’t do no wrong in my eyes. Cocktail D’Amore is a really decent song even if you don’t speak Italian, his voice is just so dreamy and….seductive? Can I say that?! I’m saying it.

Cocktail D’Amore is a sad song about the end of a relationship and if you put the lyrics through Google translate you might be like aww-he’s such an under rated song writer IMPO.

The song has been produced by Dardust and composed by Alessio Buongiorno, Paolo Alberto Monachetti, Francesco Fugazza and Marcello Grilli and the lyrics were written by the one and the only Alessandro Mahmoud aka Mahmood.

I can’t wait for more new Mahmood music.

Album Of The Month: Cher – Christmas