A Tale of Two Christmas Albums | Music | Halifax, Nova Scotia
Wwhen it comes to setting the tone for the most wonderful time of the year, the soundtrack is essential. (I mean, what are you going to do? Decorate the tree in silence?) A good holiday album evokes equal parts joy and excitement, makes room for all the big feelings of the end of another year, and also doesn’t have fear of sentimentality. At the height of the album era, a Christmas record was almost a rite of passage to superstardom and a sign of a deep-rooted fan base—just ask anyone from Mariah Carey to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.
But this year, Halifax has two new holiday albums (and accompanying live shows) that come from opposite ends of the sonic spectrum. What is Lennie Gallant Christmas Day on planet Earth offers in stripped down style, Reeny Smith’s Where are you, Santa? dials in the dreamy R&B production. Between the two, every seasonal note you could hope for has been hit.
LAnnie Gallant is staring into the middle distance, as if making eye contact with memories of Christmases past. Sitting in a Halifax cafe in the North End, the singer-songwriter honored with the Order of Canada is explaining why he’s always loved this time of year and why his annual seasonal exhibition (held this year on December 11 at St. Andrew’s Church) and the last holiday album – released by the pandemic Christmas Day on planet Earth— were inevitable manifestations of how highly he values the holidays.
“I was very lucky to have parents who always treated it as a magical time of year,” says Gallant, clutching a black coffee and smiling. “They were very community-minded people, as they and their friends were constantly putting on productions in various small venues and raising money for various causes…And as soon as I understood two chords on the guitar, I committed to performing.”
The idea for his take on family tradition came from his own artistic practice: Gallant — who splits his time between Halifax and PEI — is one of eastern Canada’s most celebrated songwriters, with a narrative-driven style sprinkled throughout with salt. “I love that quote Joni Mitchell had, where she said, ‘All my songs are true — they’re not necessarily factually true, but they’re emotionally true,'” says Gallant. On the album, this manifests as reimagining the nativity story from the innkeeper’s point of view, or channeling a sad Santa on “I’ll Have a Merry Christmas Even If It Kills Me.” (“I actually had a Christmas like that once,” Gallant says with a laugh.)
The overall effect is festive folk, so understated in style that you don’t forget it’s Christmas music – but with lyrics that make you remember your halcyon holidays.
“I I think the main draw for me to Christmas music is that it sounds really happy—and you can listen to it and automatically be in a good mood. It’s usually super positive or it can make you nostalgic,” says North Preston R&B luminary reeny Smith, speaking to The Coast by phone days after the release of her holiday EP. Where are you, Santa? “I am a person who always tries to be inspiring, motivating, positive with my messages. It just reflects me as a person and I think that’s definitely a big reason why I can resonate so well with that kind of music.”
Smith — who confesses to watching Hallmark Christmas in July movies (“I’m one of those people”) — comes from a festive family like Gallant’s. Her mother is one of her main musical inspirations, ranked in the same vein as Toni Braxton and Brandy, while her brother is a renowned percussionist.
Every December, Smith brings an ensemble of family and friends to the stage with him for a holiday revue. This year’s edition takes place at Monte’s Showbar in Dartmouth on December 15. “We’re known as a musical family, I tell people all the time. So in the beginning, we were just like, ‘Okay, let’s put it all on stage and really bring the family experience to people — and what better time than at Christmas,'” she says. The 2022 edition of the annual show will also be the live debut for the new EP. “We play a lot [songs] that we would have sung as kids growing up, with our parents in church, and we would have put everyone in the show, and just bring that little bit of cultural experience to the people who come to the show,” adds Smith “We just kept going because people always say, ‘Oh, if you do it again, we’ll be back.’
When asked what her entry into the Christmas musical ball brings, Smith says, “Just different kinds of stories, perspectives. Musically, it’s a little non-traditional in terms of what people think Christmas music sounds like. It’s kind of my spin on these songs. And you know, I think if I could say the one thing that was missing, I don’t want to say it, but I’m going to say it anyway: I think it’s just, like, Reeny’s attitude about it.”
The album (which Smith estimates she “90% produced,” currently joining the ranks of the top 5% of female producers in Canadian music) is a heady offering anchored by the singer’s creamy vocals. On all six of her songs, both of them Destiny’s Child 8 Days of Christmas and Mary J Blige’s A Merry Christmas Mary are evoked. “In terms of the melody and stuff, it’s super, super R&B — but I tried to make choices that you can definitely make people feel like it’s Christmas, too: There’s a few times on the project where you’re going to hear a lot of bells hers. That’s my little sprinkle of Christmas on top,” says Smith.
The EP’s title track — an updated answer to Eartha Kitt’s “Santa Baby” for the TikTok generation — is her favorite on the album: “It gives a different perspective on having a grown-up relationship with Santa Claus and how it looked like you were quote-unquote bad…talking about how Santa just walks by her house because the grown-up wasn’t behaving right — and goes on to say what pranks might have gone on.”
Another take on Santa’s big scene is the common thread between Smith and Gallant’s different art, and the ultimate argument for why both deserve a spot in your seasonal rotation: “To me, it’s a time of year when people have to throw [away] some ill feeling or grudge or hatred in which they have been addicted. It’s a good time to get rid of those things,” Gallant says, setting his mug down in that northern cafe. “Christmas is fundamentally a time of celebration, a time to spread a little love in a world that has a lot need it. And so, what makes a good Christmas song? You can think about this idea from many different angles: You try to bring the listener into the world of what you’re singing about.”