The familiar Yuletide season is upon us again and the usual assortment of Christmas tunes are following suit. Dianña’s “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” strikes a familiar chord in its lyrical content, presentation, vocals, music, and even a video. The video’s director Fon Davis has done considerable wonders for the song, in general, thanks to his outstanding visual depiction of its themes. Filmed at Fonco Studios in Los Angeles, the sunny climes of the Southern California are closed off in favor of a glittering and immensely classy performance from everyone involved. It’s a striking work that, if the song doesn’t sell you on its own merits, the video definitely will.
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Dianña, however, will move even the deepest cynic. Her gentle way of inhabiting the song’s emotions will clue any listeners into her sincerity. She understands the song’s sentiments without ever dressing them with misguided vocal firepower. She also pays close attention to the musical content and her duet with the song’s piano supplies some of the single’s best moments. She never pushes herself on the song but, instead, carefully follows the arrangement while still exercising her own creativity.
That creativity is even apparent in the video mentioned earlier. Dianña moves gracefully through a series of set pieces with understated elegance and the camera work captures her low-key yet emotive physical energy. Other players appear, but the camera spends much of its time focused on the singer, as it should. Her talent for inhabiting both the song itself and a physical representation of it bodes well for the rest of her career. The Animation work is really top notch.
Producer/mixer Mark Needham does a fantastic job of getting the song. The piano playing matches the elegance of the vocal and Needham juxtaposes them against one another in such a way it almost smacks of a duet. It is a ballad, however, and set in a deep tradition of such songs. The lyrical content mixes adoration with sadness but continually underscores the nature of the season.
It’s perhaps the best example of Dianña’s talent yet and the slightly earthy vocal style, hinting at blues and R&B, is a further twist on the performance. It is never crass though and certainly dovetails in with the mood of the song. Christmas music is a niche style with songs going back hundreds of years and yet people continue to seek it out each other. The performance of “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” touches something deep in our heart because it speaks to real experiences many of us share.
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There’s little doubt we’ll be hearing Dianña again. This is the sort of career that can meet posterity’s gaze and not blink because the music is connected to eternal verities and helmed by a gifted vocalist. Her range is evocative and her instincts sharp. Adult Contemporary and Country Radio will be hearing a lot from this performer in the coming years and each new turn will prove a winning bet for Dianña. She has something special, and it isn’t just at Christmas time. It will be here for a long time to come.
Trace Whittaker
