We’re headed into the holiday season, which is commercially a happy time but also one full of wistfulness, nostalgia, and melancholy for some people. Mt. Joy’s “Every Holiday” could be described as a Christmas song that’s not really a Christmas song, because it’s about more than just reindeer and sleigh rides—“Merry Christmas baby / I hope we make it through,” goes the mournful refrain.
Mt. Joy began as a bedroom rock project between old high school friends in 2017, who garnered a following on Spotify and signed to Dualtone Records for the release of their self-titled debut the following year.
Today’s song will appear on the band’s not-yet-announced 2020 album, which was produced by Tucker Martine (Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens, My Morning Jacket). Next year, the band is also slated to open for The Lumineers on tour.
Of the track, singer Matt Quinn explains: “‘Every Holiday’ is a song I wrote in my garage the day after Christmas. I was just feeling the weight of a failing relationship and what feels like a society that’s caving in on itself. The holidays just juxtapose sadness in a beautiful way. There’s a blue feeling that comes with the holidays; the recognition of loss, unspoken competition/familial pressure, and just the frozen gray landscape of a Philly winter…It’s maybe the song I’m most proud of as a writer on the new record.”
Listen to “Every Holiday” below.
