Lydia Loveless - "Merry Christmas"
Earlier this month, Lydia Loveless wrote what appeared to be a joke about writing a Christmas song on Twitter. Based on fans' reactions, she said that she'd actually have to do it. Well, she did! "Merry Christmas" sounds like an outtake from her recent (and my #10 album of 2020) album Daughter. It's a quiet, contemplative, and unbearably sad song that exemplifies her current sound of alt-country meets pure pop. This is definitely not the bubbly, cheery Christmas song for parties (which we shouldn't be doing this year, anyway), but the perfect kind of song for the Christmases we're all preparing for this year.
Lydia Loveless says of the new song: “I wanted to try my hand at a holiday song. Every year I intend to write one and give up. This year, the only thing I feel like I have any control over is my creativity—so it seemed like now or never. One of the things I have missed most is making music with others, so I asked my bandmates George (Hondroulis) and Todd (May) to add to it. It was a little spark of joy in a super bummer season.”
You can watch the video for "Merry Christmas" below. The song is available now via Bandcamp with all profits benefitting the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. For more on Lydia Loveless, check out her website.