We'll Have a Christmas
OFFICIAL RELEASE!!
Last year I recorded a Christmas song and made a video to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has worked so hard over the last few years to make the world a better place, under such immense pressure. It got such an incredible reaction, we've decided to release it this year.
So here is We'll Have a Christmas (scroll down to download).
50% of all proceeds will be donated to the wonderful LA Family Housing, who are helping people transition out of homelessness and poverty (https://www.lafh.org/ourmission).
Please set your own price. This song is for you.
Official video here: https://bit.ly/lovechristmastime
We'll Have a Christmas, written by Charlie Castell
Performances by Grammy nominated Jarrett Johnson, American Idol finalist Anthony Fedorov, Jessica Mellott, Katherine Factor, Tina Mathieu and Chas Castell.
Produced by multi-Grammy winner Bob Cutarella, and Grammy Winner Andre de Santanna
Created in partnership with Face The Music Collective (www,facethemusiccollective.org)
To hear more music from Charlie Castell, please visit:
https://bit.ly/lovewillshineagain
www.facebook.com/chascastell
Let's celebrate love can shine again.

Download
Take A Breath
Charlie Castell
Review by Simon Veaney, American Express
First things first. If, by way of chance you are attempting to woo a girl named Jessica, then you need to find the ‘Take a Breath’ EP immediately. The centerpiece, from where the title comes, is a bucolic, finger picked idyll called ‘Oh Jessica’, seemingly precision crafted to appear on mixtapes for hopeful
Review by Simon Veaney, American Express
First things first. If, by way of chance you are attempting to woo a girl named Jessica, then you need to find the ‘Take a Breath’ EP immediately. The centerpiece, from where the title comes, is a bucolic, finger picked idyll called ‘Oh Jessica’, seemingly precision crafted to appear on mixtapes for hopeful Jessica seducers. With its yawning cello and beatific vision of a couple growing wistfully old together listening to their children’s laughter, it paints a picture of marital bliss which is hard to refute. However, if ‘Oh Jessica’ has a hazy glow to it, dedicated as it is to LA songwriter Chas Castell’s eponymous real-life wife, then it is the hard won break in the clouds of a dark night of the soul.
On either side of this reverie, we are whirled into a tumult of trouble and uncertainty, as Castell tackles subjects as heavy as romantic estrangement, temptation and bereavement with a refreshing emotional honesty. For every ‘I just want to hold your hand’ there is the heartfelt admission that ‘It’s just so hard to love you.’ Perhaps surprisingly for a collection recorded on the eve of the birth of Castell’s second child, the EP is beset by tension, fierce headwinds pulling the narrator ever further away and then claustrophobically closer to his small family.
Musically the EP reflects Castell’s questing spirit, moving from mellotron flourishes (Just so Hard to Love You), through raging sea waltzes (Pull Me Under) to angelic choirs battling with post rock guitar squalls (Without Words). Throughout the fog of 90s Britpop Camden lingers heavy in the air, with the touch of bands like the Longpigs and Radiohead detectable influences. However Castell’s voice brings a distinctive soulful dimension– somewhere between the earnest delivery of Tim Buckley, the croon of that other British LA resident Morrissey, and the swooping drama of Hunky Dory era Bowie.
The LA influence is most noticeable in revved up closer ‘Good Times’, where the clouds part, the freeway opens up and with trusty Rickenbacker fully plugged in Castell drives into the sunset, the ecstatic refrain of ‘Good times are coming darling’ ringing in our ears. This EP takes you on a journey from darkness towards the light of a hopeful ending. Especially if you know a girl named Jessica.
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0:00/4:07
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Hold Your Hand 3:580:00/3:58
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Pull Me Under 4:330:00/4:33
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Oh Jessica 3:430:00/3:43
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Without Words 4:410:00/4:41
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Good Times 4:170:00/4:17