45° in the shade!  Summer Chardonnay!  A Christmas song with a difference from soon-to-relocate-Aussie Imogen Clark.

Release Date:  24^th November 2023

Label: Self Release

Formats: Digital

Hailing from Sydney, Australia, indie singer/songwriter Imogen Clark has already attracted a considerable chunk of media attention.  She’s been singing from an early age and, by the time she was twelve years old, she’d added prowess on guitar and piano and the first signs of a songwriting talent to her already formidable arsenal.  Her formative influences included Bruce Springsteen, HAIM, Maggie Rogers, Taylor Swift and, particularly, her former punk-rocking father, who has acted as a guiding light throughout her career.

Imogen has now written over 100 songs and she’s taken her music all over the world, and now, it seems, it’s time for her next major step in life.  And that’s because she’s about to relocate completely from her native Australia to Nashville, a city that has already played quite a role in Imogen’s life and in her musical development.  And that’s where Imogen’s new single, Not Christmas Here, comes into play.

You might not think that a move from Australia to the USA is such a mighty culture shock – after all, Americans and Aussies speak the same language, don’t they?  They even both have dollars as their currency…  But, wait a minute; Christmas is just around the corner, isn’t it, and an Australian Christmas takes place at the height of summer, with all that entails.  Instead of snow drifts, mulled wine and icicles (or, if you live in the UK, rain, warm bitter and more rain…) an Australian Christmas includes the pleasures of soaring temperatures, Chardonnay on the beach and the occasional dip in the pool.

Writing, recording and releasing a Christmas song with a twist has become something of a tradition as far as Imogen Clark is concerned.  In 2020, she put out My Last Christmas With You and, last year, she took another self-pitying turn with I Got Dumped For Christmas.  But this year, the twist is an even sharper one, as Imogen anticipates a festive season in a different hemisphere, away from home, family and friends, as she explains: “This song is me projecting ahead to how I’ll feel on my first Christmas living in America, without my family close by, and without the trappings of an Australian Christmas – the sweltering heat, seafood dinners and white wine.”

Written during Imogen’s 2023 American tour, and recorded at Peter Frampton’s Nashville Studio, Not Christmas Here is certainly a bright, Christmassy affair, that is, until you listen to Imogen’s lyrics.  The song starts with Imogen accompanying herself on acoustic guitar and, I have to say, my first impression was “Wow! What a voice!”  It soon settles into a smooth, sophisticated poppy number but, again, it’s Imogen’s lyrics that really strike home.  She expresses her homesickness with lines like “Pack my bags, the hustle and the bustle/ Autumn leaves start to rustle/ Back home, it’s gonna be a scorcher, man” and “At home, it’s 45 in the shade – that’s 113 Fahrenheit,” but, you know, this song is so joyful that I get a sneaking feeling that, despite the shock of change, this girl is really looking forward to a new kind of Christmas…

Not Christmas Here – a Christmas song with a difference!

Watch the official video to If I Want In – Imogen Clark’s Autumn 2023 single – here:

Imogen Clark online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Bandcamp

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