Christmas isn't only a time of joy and wonder - for some it's a season of loneliness, deprivation and melancholy.
West Hampstead singer Collette Cooper acknowledged the Dark Side of Christmas in last year's album of jazzed up classics and original songs - which touch on love loss and empathy.
Featuring her husky, jazzy vocals, Chapter one saw A-lister Ray Winstone reading her poem about a lonely man, while the second chapter, out this month, adds new tracks like Lost Soul, that reflect on recent events, and features actor Maxine Peake reading the introduction to When The Snow Falls.
Cooper's Darkside of Christmas Chapters 1+2 is out now on Thelonious Punk Records.
Following a star-studded Soho launch, attended by Sadie Frost, Laura Whitmore, Arlene Phillips and actors Lois and Jaime Winstone, Cooper will showcase the songs at a gig at Hampstead's Rosslyn Hill Chapel on December 1.
Alongside more mournful tracks, Cooper has recorded jazzy covers of The Coventry Carol, Silent Night and What A Wonderful World.
When the first album came out last year, Cooper told the Ham&High it sprang from her desire to record a Christmas album that reaches out to those who don't have a warm community, or even a warm home.
"I'm trying to reflect what's happening globally, how people are feeling about the cost of living," she said.
"There's a lot of sadness out there, people suffering with their mental health, or feeling pressure to have a good time. You forget there are people on their own, struggling or going through loss."
But Cooper also focuses on the hope of the season: "You get to the end of the year, reflect on all the good and bad things, but you always have the hope that next year will be better."
The gig won't be a melancholy affair. Cooper, who this year performed a three-month stint as Janis Joplin at The Old Red Lion in Islington, knows how to put on a great show, and Friday's event will have a Christmassy vibe with free mulled wine.
She said: "After last year’s sold out live concert version of Darkside of Christmas chapter 1, we had such a great reaction that we are very excited to perform the album again at the beautiful Rosslyn Chapel in Hampstead with tracks from our our new release.
"I’m also looking forward to performing alongside the brilliant Gospel Choir SING London and the stunning string quartet Show Strings as well as 14 of the finest musicians in the UK. I’m very proud of this album as it’s so poignant and uplifting, with each track filled with festive joy.”
Darkside of Christmas concert is at Rosslyn Chapel, Hampstead on December 1 tickets from EventBrite.
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