Dianña’s single “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” boasts the timeless qualities that virtually every Christmas song aspires to. Even one play of the track makes it abundantly clear that she began the song’s recording process with a clear idea of exactly what she wished to accomplish with the song. She pulls it off without ever relying on shortcuts or gimmickery to achieve her desired results. “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” achieves its longed-for effects honestly rather than in an underhanded or too clever by a-half fashion and leaves open-minded listeners feeling Dianña has fully dialed into the season’s spirit. It’s a great sensation.
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You finish the cut wishing it could continue. “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” clocks in right at the three minute mark without ever testing your patience. Listeners will be hard-pressed to identify a single needless musical phrase or lyric. Dianña aims for something more than a disposable pop ballad with this track; it’s a single that aspires to be one you can revisit each year and take away the same emotional impact each time.
To that end, she expresses herself in a timelessly relatable way, reaching across the board, rather than miring the cut in personal experience that wouldn’t translate for listeners. We’re in the land of recognizable emotion rather than flipping through the most intimate pages of her personal biography and such a decision undoubtedly helps give this song much of its staying power.
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The boundless melodies unleashed from the piano playing are always another source of the song’s staying power. It sustains a direct trajectory during the song’s verses but breaks away during the number’s only instrumental break for some dazzling extemporizations that immeasurably enhance the performance. The drumming, as well, plays an important role as it supplies the performance with some much needed ballast without ever sounding omnipresent.
She makes the most of the track’s words. Her phrasing is an unquestionable highlight of the performance as she enlivens the clear-cut emotional content of the lyrics with a keen sense of how to play up its drama. There’s more emotion here than just the loneliness and eventual resolution of its central conflict. Those secondary nods to other emotions are never the marquee element of the song, though her phrasing pays them due deference rather than glossing over such moments.
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It’s examples such as that that help make this such a complete experience. Dianña leaves no stone unturned in her efforts to make this one of the most memorable Christmas tunes in recent years and it isn’t difficult to imagine “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” continuing to endure for many years to come. She’s recorded an extraordinarily durable tune that offers everything and more to listeners. Newcomers to the song will be immensely gratified by what it offers while those who’ve encountered the track before will be entranced, once again, by its beguiling mix of musicality and emotion. Dianña’s “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” will please longtime fans of Christmas music and pure music lovers alike.
Jodi Marxbury