We hear the same holiday tunes every year, so it's always refreshing to hear a new spin on some seasonal classics. Case in point: Stoke the Fire, a new collaborative EP from Vancouver singer-songwriter Nat Jay and electronic production duo Cookie Cartel. It comes out digitally on Friday (December 2), and Exclaim! has the premiere in the meantime.
Jay first worked with Cookie Cartel's Mary Ancheta on last year's holiday single "Christmas in Paradise." This inspired them to team up to work on new versions of public domain Christmas tunes, along with Ancheta's beatmaking buddy Dan Kearley.
"Mary and I had a wonderful time working together, so I jumped at the opportunity to work on this project when she came to me," Jay said in a statement. "Plus I'm a huge Christmas fan, so it also gave me an excuse to listen to Christmas music all year."
The results resemble what it might sound like if the Postal Service were to make a Christmas EP: the breezy "Deck the Halls" is full of twinkling synths and jaunty drum machines, and the blippy "Jingle Bells" is updated with lyrics about cellphones. Rounding out the five-song collection, the collaborators welcome the new year with a dreamily danceable version of "Auld Lang Syne."
Check out Stoke the Fire below.
Jay first worked with Cookie Cartel's Mary Ancheta on last year's holiday single "Christmas in Paradise." This inspired them to team up to work on new versions of public domain Christmas tunes, along with Ancheta's beatmaking buddy Dan Kearley.
"Mary and I had a wonderful time working together, so I jumped at the opportunity to work on this project when she came to me," Jay said in a statement. "Plus I'm a huge Christmas fan, so it also gave me an excuse to listen to Christmas music all year."
The results resemble what it might sound like if the Postal Service were to make a Christmas EP: the breezy "Deck the Halls" is full of twinkling synths and jaunty drum machines, and the blippy "Jingle Bells" is updated with lyrics about cellphones. Rounding out the five-song collection, the collaborators welcome the new year with a dreamily danceable version of "Auld Lang Syne."
Check out Stoke the Fire below.