It’s the final five features for Song of the Day‘s 2022 season. We’re taking a vacation for a couple weeks, but don’t fret; we’ll be back bright and early next year. Until then we’re hanging some of the very best musical mistletoe of the past months, starting off with Austin’s own David Shabani.

Born in Paris and raised in Canada, Shabani’s blessed the Live Music Capital with gripping alternative hip-hop in the vein of Lupe Fiasco, Childish Gambino, Kaytranada, and Kid Cudi. Shabani’s outstanding verbal skills, butter-smooth singing, and brilliant taste in beats have earned him supporting spots for international icons like Ashanti and Trinidad James, local legends Black Joe Lewis and Blackillac, and consistent placement as an airwave heavyweight on our Hip-Hop/R&B specialty show The Breaks. After nearly thirty live appearances since January, Shabani, along with his backing group The Nu Leopards, have had a pretty good year for themselves.

Considering Shabani’s motto (“I feel good right now”), being in the moment is a gift available to anyone, anywhere. So even if you’ve got a stocking full of “Holiday Blues”, the sleigh bells, slick instrumentation, and modern Dickensian storytelling of Shabani’s latest single ought to keep your heart warm for the winter.