Understated orchestration, straightforward lyrical content, and an outstanding lead vocal are the overriding strengths separating Dianña’s “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” from similar offerings from her peers and contemporaries. It isn’t a particularly lengthy track, but it’s satisfying hearing her stretch out and give full vent to her emotional powers without ever slipping into the overwrought histrionics common to many other performers. She keeps an even keel for the duration of “Missing You Underneath the Mistletoe” and this relaxed yet confident focus gives the single much of its power.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DiannaCountry/
The power is obvious from the first and she sustains it for the duration of the song. Much of it, of course, comes from the naked yet deeply musical strength of her voice. A great deal of it though rises up from the confluence of her singing, the accompanying backing voices, and the song’s piano playing. Whoever plays the latter has a light yet decisive touch with the keys and never lacks melodic ideas. The imaginative melodies propelling this arrangement are Dianña’s most important creative partner and never let her down over the course of this performance.
She more than holds up her end of the bargain. Dianña’s unabashed musical debt to legendary vocalist and drummer Karen Carpenter comes through in the way she phrases the lyrics with such indelible control and command that you immediately want to play the track against her after finishing it for the first time. The production makes a wise decision pairing her vocals with such a well-thought out musical accompaniment and it never risks sounding too gooey or sweet.
The eloquent piano support stakes its claim as being equally important to the track’s development. It makes no attempt to dominate the performance but, instead, teams with Dianña for spectacular results. The keen-eared arrangement, as well, helps the track soar thanks to how she holds back just enough, introducing new elements at just the right time, and the track amasses outstanding cumulative power because of it.
Even the words play a similar role. No one will confuse the song’s lyrics for high-flown poetry, but it does have a straight-ahead conversational beauty, especially filtered through her soulful and incredibly relaxing vocal instrument. Backing singers present at various points throughout the cut really don’t do much to elevate the lyrical content, but they do further buttress the lead vocal with a quasi-call and response style that turns the vocals into a sort of dialogue between Dianña and a small crew of voices answering her in response.
It’s difficult to imagine anyone in love with the holiday season disliking this performance. Even closer to the point, however, dyed in the wool romantics listening to this tune will appreciate its sentiments and, most of all, how she ends the performance. You won’t hear any holes in this performance. It’s a fully realized invocation of Dianña’s talents that holds up under repeated passes and will surely inspire first time listeners to seek out more of her work. It’s well worth the search.
Levi Colston