The holiday season is quickly approaching, and though this year’s celebrations will look vastly different, musicians are holding onto some semblance of normalcy by rolling out Christmas songs. So far, Jonas Brothers and Carly Rae Jepsen have already joined in with holiday jingles, and now, Sharon Van Etten is throwing her own Christmas music into the mix.
On Thursday, Van Etten shared her brooding covers of the two holiday classics “Silent Night” and “Blue Christmas.” The covers are just now hitting streaming services, but they are actually over ten years old. Van Etten originally recorded her versions of “Silent Night” and “Blue Christmas” back in 2009 to appear on the benefit album Do You Ear What I Ear. Proceeds from the compilation record were given to the Association To Benefit Children, a New York-based organization dedicated to permanently breaking the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness, and homelessness among disadvantaged children and their families.
Announcing the songs’ arrival on streaming services, Van Etten wrote, “The holidays are just around the corner & since I’m always late to the party, I thought I’d share 2 holiday songs I recorded, ‘Silent Night’ & ‘Blue Christmas.’
The holidays are just around the corner & since I’m always late to the party, I thought I’d share 2 holiday songs I recorded, “Silent Night” & “Blue Christmas”. Thank you to Niccolò Debole for creating this beautiful artwork. Both songs are available now.https://t.co/kfhXIhuuLW pic.twitter.com/VOj8bNRVfH
— Sharon Van Etten (@sharonvanetten) November 12, 2020
This isn’t the first occasion this year that Van Etten has shared some previously unreleased music. Back in September, Van Etten dug through her musical archive to release the 2015 B-side “All Over Again” on streaming services.
Listen to Van Etten’s renditions of “Silent Night” and “Blue Christmas” above.