Liam Payne’s “All I Want (For Christmas)” Is A Wintery Ballad

Mike Nied | October 24, 2019 10:52 pm

Liam Payne’s debut album is shaping up to be an eclectic affair. Since going solo, the 26-year-old has dropped a plethora of genre-hopping singles. He kicked things off by toying with urban-pop on breakout hit “Strip That Down.” But the One Direction alum kept us guessing after that. He dabbled in the likes of bro-pop (“Bedroom Floor”), Latin pop (“Familiar”), balladry (“For You”) and EDM (“Polaroid”). All of the above land on the tracklist for his aptly titled LP1. And today (October 25), the experimentation continues with his first holiday standard “All I Want (For Christmas).”

Only his take on seasonal fare is a little less holly and jolly. Instead, the piano-led ballad finds him on the ropes in a relationship. “Tell me where did we go wrong,” Liam asks. “We should be singing Christmas songs instead of shouting all night long like we do.” That’s a bleak opening. However, all hope is not lost. That becomes more evident as the track develops. Especially on the chorus. “If we can make it through December, maybe we’ll make it through forever. ‘Cos all I want for Christmas is you and me to fix this. If we can make it through December, every New Year we’ll be together.”

The end result is a refreshing update on a sub-genre that oftentimes verges on feeling overly saccharine. Instead, the Phil Cook, James Newman and Sam Preston-penned track offers a holistic look at the highs and lows of romance. That makes it infinitely more relatable and will hopefully help it become an enduring classic. Give “All I Want (For Christmas)” a listen below and let us know what you think.

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