It’s December, which round these parts means it’s time once again for The Joyzine Advent Calendar! This year we’re celebrating our 20th edition, so we’ve scoured the archives to mix in some calendar classics along with a few fresh festive cuts from our favourite artists.
As always every track on the calendar will be absolutely free to download, and we don’t force you to sign up for our mailing list (though you can if you want, here) or hand over all of your personal data. The calendar is our Christmas gift to the world (or at least the part of it that enjoys seasonal songs by obscure indie musicians), but if you’re also in the giving mood we’d love you to make a donation to our chosen cause, the excellent anti-racism charity HOPE not hate, which you can do here.
On with the free festive tunes!
It’s flashback Friday so we’re dipping back into the Advent Calendar archives for another favourite from years gone by and today the track to have been rummaged from our festive sack is seasonal heartbreaker ‘I’ll Be Getting a Divorce for Christmas’ by Paul Hawkins of Joyzine faves The Awkward Silences. You can download it below.
We caught up with Paul to find out what 2024 holds in store for the band.
What have you been up to this year?
In April we contributed to an EP of Blang Records Acts remembering and celebrating London’s incredible and much-missed 12 Bar Club.
In July, myself and the South London troubadour Gary Paradiso launched a new neurodivergent cabaret night called Organised Fun and over the last few months the Awkward Silences have been recording our 5th album, which will be called The King of Cats.
What have you got planned for 2024?
We’re going to be releasing the album in late Spring or early Summer. We’re also going to be contributing to one of Joyzine’s 20th Anniversary compilations – which we’re really excited about – and we’re in the process of applying for funding to make Organised Fun a regular event. Hopefully it’s going to be a really exciting year!
Tell us about your track
I wrote and recorded ‘I’ll be Getting a Divorce for Christmas’ quite a long time ago – maybe in about 2004 or 2005. It’s one of these songs that seems to have really endured since and I think it’s because. somewhere under the bleak jokes, I seem to have really hit on something about the way that, for many people, Christmas can arrive at completely the wrong time and you suddenly find yourself forced to take part in a ritual of celebration in spite of the emotional turmoil you’re currently experiencing. I think the biggest compliment anyone has ever paid me as a songwriter was when a divorce lawyer heard this song and told me that I’d managed to accurately depict the experiences of many of their clients!
This year Joyzine has been celebrating our 20th birthday – what were you up to in 2003?
That was the year I moved to London. I was a socially awkward 21 year old who found it hard to make friends and, within a few months, I’d start performing at open mic nights just to get myself out of the house. And the rest is an incredibly minor footnote in history…
Any new year’s resolution?
To record my advent calendar song early so Joyzine get a new one next year!
Download ‘I’ll Be Getting a Divorce for Christmas‘
Make a donation to HOPE not hate
Find out more about The Awkward Silences on their official website
Check back tomorrow for another free festive download!
Catch up on all of this year’s Advent Calendar Tracks so far:
1: MJ Hibbett – I Got You What You Want For Christmas
2: Matt Edible & The Obtuse Angels – Advent Beard
3: Old Man May – Laden Sleigh
4: Michael M (SLIME CITY) – It’s Easy To Hate This Time of Year
5: The Fades – Last Christmas (On The Beach)
6: AK/DK – Auld Lang Syne
7: Modesty Blaise – I’ll Be Home for Christmas
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