Christmas On The Moon by Pretty Windows
Pretty Windows
Ah, Christmas. Advent calendars, office parties, questionable eggnog (seriously, who even drinks that?), twinkling trees, and the inevitable squabbles about who’s hosting what and where. And, of course, it wouldn’t be the festive season without bands rolling out their Christmas releases. Enter Pretty Windows, whose email landed in our inbox with their latest tune, Christmas On The Moon. I’ll admit, this was my first encounter with the duo, but curiosity led me down the rabbit hole of their catalogue. After a bit of Spotify stalking and finally hitting play on the MP3 they sent through (via the handy upload button on our review page, FYI), I was ready to dive into their festive offering.
Pretty Windows, for the uninitiated, hail from Nottingham and are a duo blending post-punk, garage rock, and indie pop with a flair for storytelling and chaos. Their bio reads like an ode to Nottingham’s grit and charm, celebrating the markets, bars, terraces, and flop houses that shape their sound. It’s lyrical mayhem wrapped in inventive guitars, beats, and loops, all delivered with a semi-autobiographical twist. Their standout tracks, like No Wonder They Invented The Monday Club, Vinyl and Heck, and Truffles, are worth adding to your queue if you’re in the mood for something a little offbeat, a little raw, and a lot relatable.
But let’s get back to Christmas On The Moon. The track kicks off with a distorted, spacey soundscape—immediately intriguing. Then, the heavy guitars crash in, bringing a wall of distortion that sets the tone for the familial dysfunction we all know and (sometimes begrudgingly) love about Christmas. The opening lyrics, "Old Spice aftershave, golden chocolates in a case, a calendar with lines for days, unhappy anniversaries," are delightfully sardonic, driven by a foot-tapping drumbeat and intermittent bursts of distorted ambience.
The chorus is where the track shines, with the line "If you want to see a Christmas tree launched up to the moon, come to ours on Boxing Day, any time past noon." Let’s be honest: by the time Boxing Day rolls around, most of us are ready to jettison the tree—and maybe a few relatives—straight into orbit. It’s relatable, tongue-in-cheek, and perfectly captures that post-festive fatigue. The middle section provides a brief moment of reflection, urging us to embrace relationships during the festive period, before the song loops back to its explosive chorus.
At 2 minutes and 57 seconds, it’s a bite-sized gem that’s more than worthy of a spot on your Christmas playlist. Whether you’re spinning it while wrapping gifts or using it as a soundtrack for family debates over Monopoly, it’ll fit right in. The track drops on Sunday, December 8th, across all the usual streaming platforms—Spotify, Apple Music, the works.
Pretty Windows describe Christmas On The Moon as a playful detour amid work on two separate albums of varying styles, and honestly? If this is their version of a “sidestep,” I’m eager to see where their main road leads. So, grab a mince pie, press play, and prepare for a Christmas that’s out of this world, well on the moon at least.
