Last updated on September 12, 2017
It’s somewhat astonishing that it’s almost time for Christmas music already. I almost threw a moratorium at this one (no Christmas music until at least November!), but then I listened to it twelve times in one day. I figured somewhere around the 7th or 8th listen that I was probably socially obligated to tell people about this tune that I was getting so much enjoyment from.
Hailing from my old stomping grounds of Opelika, Alabama, Martha’s Trouble sets off more nostalgia for me than that which strictly comes from their poignant rewrite of “White Christmas.” The easygoing folk arrangement has warm edges that seem to evoke the warmth and glow of a candle sitting in a window at Yuletide. The gentle electric guitar reverbing off the full acoustic strum and delicate banjo creates the comforting, enveloping atmosphere that you want to imagine Christmas will be.

The tune itself is quite different than the original: the new melody has a great deal less theatricality than the traditional. That overt drama is replaced by a subtle intimacy, an easygoing comfort that really sells the tune. The arrangement backs it up: the song begins, lives, and ends at the same speed and volume. It feels like a slice of life, as opposed to a over-produced Christmas tune. What else can you ask for in a Christmas song?
Check the tune out above, and then buy it on October 16th when it drops!