For the last three years Swansea Sound have released a Yuletide single, and they are at it again this year, with two new songs.  Previous seasonal offerings have manifested as CDs inside greetings cards.  But this time, the two new tracks are presented on a vinyl album along with the previous six songs, creating a perfect soundtrack for a sad and angry Christmas.

The new songs: Not My Order( out Dec 6)  is about the neurosis and existential angst that are the inevitable results of last-minute online shopping.  Click It And Pay (Walking In The Air), a rewritten version of a song from the band's acclaimed 'Twentieth Century' album, continues the theme: desperate online consumer Hue Williams enjoys a duet with harassed warehouse fulfilment operative (Amelia Fletcher).  Hue orders a load of crap in a panicked frenzy, she struggles to pick the items he's chosen and worries if she'll be sanctioned by her managers.

Swansea Sound's Christmas isn't just about consumerism though.  On Happy Christmas To Me we get to share the festive joy of the billionaires who own the warehouses and the social media platforms.  On Santa Bail Me Out, we experience the optimistic dreams of someone who can't afford to buy anything but knows a friendly load-shark in a jolly red coat.  (I Wanna Wear A) Mirrored Hat Like Slade is genuinely festive, celebrating the hit song that still provides the best soundtrack to Christmas parties five decades after it was written.  Dreamland is a tale of a trip to a really nasty Christmas theme park.  The Life We Led is a heartfelt song about doomed nostalgia and bewilderment.  The album is rounded off with a rollicking version of Cheap Trick's Merry Christmas Darlings.  The 'party sequence' at the end sees the return of everyone's favourite oligarchs, as they trade corporate mission statements over glasses of wine.

Swansea Sound are playing three special festive gigs in December:

04 Dec 2025: HERNE BAY King's Hall, with Brian Bilston and the Catenary Wires

19 Dec 2025: RAMSGATE Music Hall, with The Gentle Spring and Sassyhiya

20 Dec 2025: LONDON The Waiting Room, with The Gentle Spring and Railcard 

In 2026 they will be playing the US and Canada, alongside Skep Wax labelmates Heavenly. All gig information at skepwax.com/live. 

TRACKLIST 

1     Not My Order
2     (I Wanna Wear A) Mirrored Hat Like Slade
3     Happy Christmas To Me
4    The Life We Led
5     Santa Bail Me Out
6     Dreamland
7     Click It And Pay (Walking In The Air)
8     Merry Christmas Darlings

SWANSEA SOUND ARE:

Hue Williams – vocal  (ex-Pooh Sticks)
Amelia Fletcher – vocal  (Heavenly, Catenary Wires, ex-Pooh Sticks/Talulah Gosh)
Ian Button – drums  (Heavenly, Catenary Wires, ex-Death In Vegas)
Bob Collins – guitar  (ex-Dentists)
Rob Pursey – bass  (Heavenly, Catenary Wires)

Additional vocals on Track 2 are provided by Betty Thomas.