It’s been such a strange year and in the spirit of togetherness and community, we’re going to be counting down to Christmas by sharing a selection of our – and our friends’ – favourite festive songs. Today, we’ve chosen ‘Cold White Christmas’ by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.

If you’ve been reading the site over the past few days, you’ll know we can’t resist a melancholy song over the Christmas period (we’re all agreed ‘Lonely This Christmas’ is one of the best mainstream ones, right?) and ‘Cold White Christmas’ captures this tinge of sadness and regret perfectly.

Owen Ashworth follows a recent graduate who’s having to work over the period with astute observations that sum up the struggles of younger people who are making their way in the world: ‘Beer for breakfast’; ‘Second shift as a fry cook that’s your holiday in grease and you trudge to work through the snow in a coat down to your knees and you linger at the twinkle lights as you pass by the mall.’

Be nice to retail workers this holiday season.