by Josiah Hughes
As previously reported, Canadian power-pop heroes Sloan got into the holiday spirit with a new Christmas-themed 7-inch. The record has since sold out, but in the spirit of giving Sloan have made their tracks available online.
"Kids Come Back Again at Christmas" pairs a sprightly bass line with some holiday bells. Similarly, "December 25" offers plenty of piano alongside its sleigh bells. Both songs give you the best seasonal feelings with none of the schmaltz.
Listen to both songs below, where you'll also find a Christmas greeting from Sloan's Jay Ferguson.
What did you find yourself doing on the hottest day of this past summer? Hanging at the beach? Going for a swim? Relaxing with a book under a tree? Having a tall cool drink by the pool? How about standing in front of a microphone with sleigh bells and singing about snowballs, sleighs and Christmas day? That's the position we found ourselves in this past August while recording a brand new 7" single of 2 original Christmas songs. I think It's safe to say that it was a challenge, but we still managed to get into the holiday spirit while it was 39 degrees (that's 102 degrees fahrenheit, American friends) outside the studio.
We've tried our hand at Christmas recordings before. In 2011 "The Twelve Days of Christmas" got an elaborately musical treatment that would have made Perry Como do a Hollywood style double-take, while Slade's "Merry X-Mas Everybody" got a rocking tribute in 2012 commandeered by Patrick on lead vocals.
This year we decided to add 2 original songs to the canon of holiday fare. On Side A, Chris, with Patrick harmonizing along side, takes the lead on his galloping, acoustic driven future-holiday-classic "Kids Come Back Again at Christmas". On Side B, I contributed a snowy piano song suitable for a slow skate called "December 25". Thanks as well to our Gregory Macdonald for adding his touch of seasonal splendour to these recordings.
Andrew chimed in with the wintery collage artwork found on the 7" cover and the 4 Christmas cards that come with this package. The cards feature seasonal messages inside in the form of lyrics from our catalogue. Some miiiight be a stretch, but hopefully the merry sentiment remains intact and your relatives and recipients won't be puzzled!
One final note: as a tribute to our One Chord To Another album that we've been celebrating this year, the drums on these new songs were recorded direct to 4-track cassette just as we did with that album 20 years ago. I'm not sure if Chris' or my engineering skills have improved since 1996, but I still think they sound kinda cool. I've added more blank C-90 cassettes to my Xmas wish list.
From us to you, please have a merry holiday season and a happy new year!
Yo Ho Ho,
Jay F.
--taken from: Exclaim!
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