You know Bublé and Céline, Anne Murray and "Mistletoe" by JBiebs; McLachlan and Ryder, Blue Rodeo and Barenaked Ladies. But soon you will too recall the future CanCon Christmas classics to rule them all!
'Tis most definitely the season, so here we are again with our special holiday edition of The Eh! List as reliably as your one uncle says something at the dinner table that ruins the whole vibe after a few too many eggnogs. No matter how un-Christmassy you might be feeling, you have to admit there's something nice about tradition.
Tim Baker delivers a full holiday-inspired album this year, Full Rainbow of Light, harkening back to the special warmth of spending the season in his hometown of St. John's. Meanwhile, Quebec's Vanille (a.k.a. Rachel Leblanc) brings a festive Beach Boys classic into her dreamy '60s baroque-folk universe, spiked with a jaunty shot of Bailey's.
Vancouver's the Zolas gift us a beautifully melancholic offering: while overtly neither holly nor jolly, "Anything Can Happen on the Holiest of Days" captures the hope that this time of year can bring out of our weary souls; it feels like something of a sister song to their 2016 cut "Why Do I Wait (When I Know You've Got a Lover)," which remains perfect (and the bridge continues to make this writer twirl around like she's in The Nutcracker). For the more blatant bah-humbug moments, Toronto torchbearer Jessie Reyez wishes you a "MERRY NOTHIN."
Elsewhere, Bodywash break up the endless stream of "Last Christmas" renditions with a freshly fuzzed-out, shoegaze-y take, while Jill Barber envisions Christmas public enemy No. 1 as a misunderstood bad boy caught in her web with her sultry jazz version of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."
Make your heart grow three sizes (or at least slightly reduce your disdain for holiday music after hearing "All I Want for Christmas Is You" 12 times an hour at the mall) with The Holid-Eh! List below, presented by Mary Brown's Chicken — all Canadian and proud of it!