Mawcore Releases Rock Version Of Christmas classic ‘What Child is This’

Mawcore has released their own rock and roll take on the poignant Christmas classic “What Child is This,” lending it their signature heartfelt passion and dynamic rock sound.

Recorded with Chris and Lori George of Ocean Studios and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Marc Frigo, “What Child is This” continues to prove the kind of musical quality Mawcore can create. They offer a unique blend of symphonic, alternative, electronic hard rock that the band self-descripts as “Renaissance Rock.”

“This song hit us in a way that it hadn’t before,” lead singer Joshua Redding shares. “It has always been performed with a more upbeat feeling, but there is a more thoughtful challenge coming from the song that, to us, didn’t allow it to be performed with such careless glee.”

Guitarist Jeff Redding adds, “The song contains a rhetorical question: what child is this? At the sight of the Babe in the feed trough, so many emotions must have been evoked — maybe even disappointment. We cannot have a casual glance of this image. We all need a life-changing gaze!”

That life-changing gaze is what marks Mawcore’s reverent rock spin on the classic. “It’s not just a joyous exclamation, but also a call to a respectful realization that ‘this is Christ the King!’” Joshua says excitedly. “Both the church and the world have forgotten the Child. Because of our loss of awe and adoration for Christ the Child, we are also failing our own children. Just as the shepherds realized that this child is truly Christ the King, the Savior, Messiah, Redeemer and Emmanuel, we must remember Him in order to fully know and understand the gift we have been given. When we remember the Child, we remember what matters most to God.”

That sentiment is communicated through riffs tinged with wonder and charged with holy energy. It’s the result of a year that Mawcore has spent falling back to focus on growth and deepening their roots even through a season of change. The fruit of this season will be more new tracks released in 2023. “What Child is This” serves as just a preview of the kinds of things the band is set to achieve, with their hearts set on communicating hope — this Christmas season and beyond.

“It feels like we are in need of hope, more than ever,” Joshua earnestly confesses. “But we keep looking in all of the wrong places. We have forgotten that it was found in the most unlikely place. It was not found in the castle, or the overly ornate cathedrals. Instead, it was found in an animal barn. This doesn’t mean it can’t be found in the amazing places, but it definitely means we can find it in the broken and run-down shacks and stables of our lives.”