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Phoebe Bridgers is known for her soft style of singing and the fall-esque feel of a majority of her music. But with her 2022 Christmas EP, So Much Wine, she delves into the winter season, recreating the nostalgic feeling of Christmas many people know so well by covering a series of seasonal songs.
One of the most powerful songs on the album is “If We Make It Through December,” a cover of a song by country legend Merle Haggard.
The song uses a piano and haunting background vocals to detail a poor family struggling their way through the Christmas season. December is depicted as a time of hardship instead of the joyful, happy time of year that it is known to be by many.
It features heartbreaking lyrics such as “I don’t mean to hate December / It’s meant to be the happy time of year / And my little girl don’t understand / Why we can’t afford no Christmas here.”
Another cover featured on the album is the classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Bridgers makes her version of the song cozy and atmospheric, with echoing background vocals, electric guitar, and muffled drums.
Elsewhere, Bridgers picks lesser-known Christmas songs to cover on her album and puts her signature sad-girl flare on them. The songs end up having an even more heartbreaking yet nostalgic and comfy feel.
