The Imaginaries’ “First Thing on My Christmas List

On the back of a gentle beat, glistening strings and a playful winter harmony come spilling out of the speakers in The Imaginaries’ “First Thing on My Christmas List,” a prime cut from their new record Hometown Christmas. Maggie McClure and Shane Henry manage to stir up a vocal duet as charming as their seasonal lyrics are in this fun new single and its cinematic music video, both of which concentrate on making melodies the focus more than anything else. In putting their efforts towards perfecting a tried and true formula for yielding holiday music magic, The Imaginaries deliver one of the more charismatic Christmas songs of the season in “First Thing on My Christmas List,” which I would rank as being among the stronger compositions from their 2019 collaborative LP.

http://www.maggiemcclure.com/

http://www.shanehenry.com/

While I was really impressed with the vocal showmanship and general virtuosities contained within this track, I think there’s just as much to be said about the intricacies of the instrumentation here. It’s not overindulgent, but the interplay between the different components is absolutely incendiary in the white-hot chorus. It definitely makes me curious to hear what these two could possibly come up with in a non-holiday setting, and even if this ends up being the only time that they work together on a project of this nature, there isn’t much room for debate as to whether or not “First Thing on My Christmas List” is an excellent addition to the 2019 Christmas season, and moreover, winter playlists in need of a springy pop melody everywhere this year.

Mindy McCall