Chris Demontague makes noise on ‘Silent Night’

With the upsurge of crime across the island amid other serious societal ills, reggae singer Chris Demontague has released a Christmas song, dubbed Silent Night, that appears to capture a chilling snapshot of the country as Christmas approaches.

"The more I conduct research and read, the more I realise that the system is broken. It only benefits a few, and this is driven home even more so with the excess and shameless commercialisation of Christmas," he said.

Demontague said the song serves a dual purpose, the first being to teach people the history of Christmas.

"We celebrate, but we don't realise the origins of Christmas and what this pagan holiday means. We as a people need to understand our past before we know our future," he said. "And two, this is a wake-up call to the authorities that we can't pretend any more. We have to realise what is going on, [and] face the reality that there is a growing disparity between the haves and have-nots. We need real change."

The song will be released on the Danger Zone Music Group imprint on December 15. Chris Demontague is known for singles such as Missing You and Couldn't Believe, but his music has taken on a more revolutionary and socially conscious stand in recent months.

Danger Zone Music Group executive Edward '9' Warren revealed that Silent Night is the first single from the upcoming EP, titled Mixed Emotions, which will be released next February for Black History Month.

"The EP has seven tracks that cover conscious social commentary and lovers' rock. We have a mixture of Afrobeats and trap-reggae fusions throughout the tracks, so it's definitely going to be a different sound than what Chris was previously known for," Warren said. A second single, Revolution, will be released in the first week of January.

"Chris Demontague is a versatile artiste who has a very distinctive sound and is able to do authentic reggae, while also able to switch up his vocals to connect with other genres," said Warren.