Name: Christmas Hummingbird (Piano Version) by The Watanabes
Duration: 3 min 25 s
Description: Piano version of our 2020 Christmas single. Produced and mixed by David Naughton. Mastered by Alex Gordan at Abbey Road studios in London. Piano and choir arrangement by Matt Hogan. String arrangement by Nicholas Buc. Huge thanks to our executive producer Guy Perryman for inspiring the idea and guiding its release.

Kev Gray: genius? Quite possibly. His mastery of the art of storytelling is such that "One More Chance" - a tale of Sunday football woe, a lost romantic opportunity and subsequent mishaps in the pub, among other things - will have you hanging on every line, feverishly anticipating the next clever twist yet always being wittily outmaneuvered by Gray's charming turn of phrase. If Kev Gray offered to read bedtime stories to the Emperor's children, old tennoh would immediately ask to see his rirekisho. And then, after hearing "One More Chance", he'd say, "Kev, you've got a job for life; pack your things." 

-  Jonti Davies - Japanzine, June 2009

One More Chance

Keen Stitcher

Creates a Pendulum

Piano version of our 2020 Christmas single. Produced and mixed by David Naughton. Mastered by Alex Gordan at Abbey Road studios in London. Piano and choir arrangement by Matt Hogan. String arrangement by Nicholas Buc. Huge thanks to our executive producer Guy Perryman for inspiring the idea and guiding its release.

Christmas Hummingbird (Piano Version)

I Don't Need Saving

A song about grabbing the present and living it to the max

Written, produced & performed by J. Alan Schneider 
Mixed & mastered at 23rd St in Astoria, NY 
Additional guitar on "The State Line" by Tory Mance 
Single art by Derek Springsteen
Special thanks to Julie Hershman, Mark Yocca, and Juno the Cat
More info at jalanschneider.com

On Precipice

They're On to Us

A cover of Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice. 
Created in Logic Pro x, arrangement and instrumentation by myself!

Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Cover

esirnuS nI esreveR

This Is the Place

THANK YOU: 
Christmas Hummingbird is the culmination of a six year journey that began on a grey Sunday afternoon in a share-house bedroom in Tokyo with a second hand guitar. The Watanabes would like to thank all of the talented people who have guided us along the way: our producer David Naughton for sharing his musical gifts with us; Guy Perryman for spotting the festive potential in Hummingbird and inspiring this project; Nicholas Buc for his wonderful string section; Matt Hogan for his creative contributions to the choir arrangement; Kimi, Kaiya and Kan Naughton for their beautiful backing vocals; our lovely cousin, Marina Elphick, for providing the perfect Hummingbird illustration and our resident artist, Hitomi Tsuchiya for complimenting it with the logo and title. In addition, we'd like to recognise the love and support of our family; Mum, Dad, Jiye, Chun, Kieran, Kylie, Aina and Lifei. This song is for you.

INSPIRATION:
In 2003, Selwyn Walsh gave his parents a warm embrace at Heathrow airport and headed across the seas for adventure and excitement in the land of the rising sun. A year later, he beckoned his younger brother, Duncan, with the hope of forming a band together. Duncan eagerly followed his brothers call, and The Watanabes have been strumming their stuff in Japan ever since, as their family watched from afar. After over a decade in Japan, the two brothers wrote Hummingbird, a song inspired by the conflicting emotions that are created when you find yourself enjoying life in a new country that is so very, very far away from home. In 2017, The Watanabes released Hummingbird as part of their Spoiled and Nostalgic EP and the record quickly reached the attentive ears of InterFm DJ, Guy Perryman. As a fellow, long-time foreign resident in Japan with roots in rural England, Guy understood how it felt to be so far away from loved ones and formed an emotional connection with the song. Sensing a festive flavour to the lyrics, Guy played Hummingbird on his Christmas Day morning radio show and ideas began to brew. Soon after, he contacted The Watanabes to ask whether they could consider altering the lyrics, and re-releasing the song as a Christmas song, with bells, a choir and strings. With the help of such talented collaborators as David Naughton (production), Nicholas Buc (strings) and Matt Hogan (choir), Guy's Christmas vision has come true. At a time when coronavirus is keeping so many apart from their loved ones, we hope that Christmas Hummingbird will provide a little comfort and joy this winter.

Christmas Hummingbird

On Saturday 4th December, we dragged ourselves out of bed at 3:30am to chat to Sophie Little on BBC Radio Norfolk about our Christmas single, Christmas Hummingbird. As always, it was a pleasure to talk to her.

BBC Radio Norfolk Interview December 4th 2020

Two British brothers sipping on green tea while writing heartfelt pop songs on second hand guitars.

Christmas Hummingbird (Piano Version)

The Watanabes

Related tracks