Let’s face it, Christmas music can be cheesy as fuck. And by the time December 25 rolls around, most of us are so sick of Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas” we wonder if there’s enough tinsel in the house to hang ourselves with.
However, there are some holiday tunes like those from indie-folk icon Sufjan Stevens and local rap and R&B duo Heartless the Monster and Yvng Hanshi that actually breathe life into stale holiday melodies.
Adding to that short list is 12th Night, the debut EP from San Antonio folk act Emme Smith Trio. The recording’s haunting covers of Christmas classics such as “O Come O Come Emmanuel” and “I Wonder as I Wander” almost sound like baby Jesus is gonna get ya.
OK, maybe they’re not hilariously macabre as that, but their songs are certainly more dark than the originals.
The EP opens with “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” on which the electric guitar and bass slink in before the drums and vocals show up to guide the listener through a dreary dance of ethereal folk textures. The rest of the EP ebbs and flows in tempo. Guitar reverberations breathe and create eerie atmospheres before drums drop in and pull listeners back into the mist of minor-key melodies.
It’s great stuff and a perfect alternative to Top 40 Christmas hits.
Check out the EP on Bandcamp below and follow Emme Smith Trio for updates on upcoming releases and shows.
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This article appears in The Drink Issue 2019.