There is one constant every Holiday Season: Inescapable, upbeat Christmas tunes. Famous musicians, from Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby to Mariah Carey and Slade, have all tried their hands at writing Christmas songs. And why not, it’s a lucrative market. It’s been reported that Mariah Carey earns royalties every year of around half a million dollars just from All I Want for Christmas is You.

Christmas is big in America, but the concept of the Christmas Number One single has been a source of great interest for Bryce. He didn’t come to the UK until 2003, the year that Michael Andrews and Gary Jules’ cover of the Tears for Fears song Mad World top the charts on the week of Christmas. The British music buy public had grown tired of the cynical attempt to cash in on the Christmas singles market by the likes of TV show Pop Idol, and in the wake of the invasion of Iraq a song recorded for the Donnie Darko soundtrack just seemed to fit.

In December 2016, Robert sent Bryce a poem that he had a little tune for. Without any instruments to hand, Bryce made a quick arrangement on iPad and sent to back to the rest of the band for consideration. John recorded a guitar part and everyone started throwing around a flurry of ideas, but the song didn’t get finished in time for Christmas 2016. But it did push Bryce into purchasing a Bad Christmas Jumper purely for the sleigh bells attached so he could add that icon sound to the song.

Four years went by and each year, Croydon Tourist Office revisited the song, adding something new here, tweaked something old there, but it was never finished in time for the Christmas release.

Until this year!

That’s right, after four years of tinkering with the song, Croydon Tourist Office will release their first Christmas single. Will it be a Number One? Time will tell.

So, stay turned for a different sort of Christmas song.