• News

• All

Oct 20, 2021 By Joey Arnone

Hiss Golden Messenger (the project of M.C. Taylor) has announced the release of a holiday album, O Come All Ye Faithful, due out this Friday (Oct. 22) via Merge. Taylor has also shared a new song, “Grace,” one of several original tunes he has crafted for the album, which includes covers of songs by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Woody Guthrie, and Spiritualized, in addition to traditional holiday songs. Listen to “Grace” and check out the album’s tracklist/cover art below.

Taylor speaks about the new song in a press release: “‘Grace’ is about keeping a light for those that are struggling or lost or confused or grieving: the gone ones, our children, poets, teachers. My friends Nathaniel Rateliff, Aoife O’Donovan and Sonyia Turner helped me on the choruses.”

He adds, regarding the album, which was recorded during fall 2020: “Big, brash holiday music—the type that we hear in big-box stores in the middle of December—has never resonated with me, and this past year it felt absolutely dissonant. I wanted to make a seasonal record that felt more in step with the way that I, and so many others, experience this time of year: quiet, contemplative, searching and bittersweet. The intention was to make a seasonal record with vibe.”

Taylor’s previous album, Quietly Blowing It, came out earlier this year via Merge.

O Come All Ye Faithful Tracklist:

1. Hung Fire
2. O Come All Ye Faithful
3. Grace
4. By the Lights of St. Stephen
5. Shine a Light (Spiritualized Cover)
6. Joy to the World
7. Silent Night
8. Hanukkah Dance (Woody Guthrie Cover)
9. As Long As I Can See the Light (Creedence Clearwater Revival Cover)

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.