Whyte Horses, the Manchester-based group led by Dom Thomas, released a fine debut earlier this year in their album ‘Pop Or Not‘. Unlike most first albums, it’s 17 tracks strong and submerges you in a world of blissful, dreamy psychedelia that sounds both vintage and innovatively fresh. It’s also been given the Noel Gallagher seal of approval after he included it in his selections for his recent appearance on Steve Lamacq’s BBC 6Music show.
Not content with the achievement of writing, recording and releasing that record, Thomas has now re-recorded the whole thing. Not as a mutated version of the original or as a way for a perfectionist to improve on any perceived flaws, but as a very festive and timely collaboration with a children’s choir.
Hooking up with the St. Barts choir, made up of kids aged 6-11, from Haslemere in Surrey, the band’s frontman managed to fulfil a long-held dream with the project. “For years I had been toying with the idea of making a record with kids performing cover songs that ordinarily a group of children would never be asked to sing,” he explains in a statement about the re-recording.
In this video, the kids take on ‘Pop Or Not”s ‘The Snowfalls‘ and the results are perfect for getting you into that Christmas mood. Thomas says the album was written as “an ode to childhood sensations” and this recording captures that unsceptical, uncorrupted happiness children possess at this time of year.
Of his motives behind getting St. Barts choir involved with Whyte Horses, Thomas says: “These are pretty dark times we live in and I feel it’s fitting to try and bring some of that innocent, unbridled joy back into the murky world of the music industry. We want these kids to really connect with the melodic side of our songs and hopefully spread the message of melancholic positivity we’ve been striving for in our own recordings.” Shake off your cynicism and gear up for Christmas with that in mind and this in your ears.