Oklahoma!

Ah, just what I wanted – a Christmas concept album. How did you know? Spearmint have obviously set themselves the challenge to write a series of songs with a wintery setting in spite of their summery pop sound. Little vignettes and tender kitchen-sink mini-dramas abound here.

The band have taken a lot of time and trouble to get everything just so. Each track has its very own illustration on the album sleeve with introductory paragraph to set the scene. The songs themselves are snapshots of lonely, confused characters that lay bare the inner dialogues of parents and offspring alienated from each other, lovers who are pulled apart or drawn closer by circumstances.

‘New Year Song’ features a quiet, bittersweet discourse between a young couple examining their hopes for the future after a traumatic year, while future single ‘Happy Birthday Girl’ (boy misses girlfriend whose birthday falls on Christmas Eve) is a joyous ode to wallowing in self-pity.

Oklahoma! is big and bright, liberally sprinkled with festive flurries of glockenspiel. Despite the album’s winsome winter sentiments, the chiming pop melodies leave you feeling all warm and cosy inside.