NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Trading saccharine yuletide cheer for thoughtful introspection, acclaimed Old Bear Records singer/songwriter Gabrielle Lovelace presents The Secret of Christmas November 20. Produced by Lovelace and Brothers McClurg’s Chris and Anthony Hoisington, the lo-fi seasonal set showcases four standout vocal tracks and one instrumental selection.
Lovelace’s take on the title-cut, a 1959 classic written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, captures the overarching message of The Secret of Christmas. “It speaks to the heart of the matter, elegantly explaining what is irrelevant during Christmastime versus what makes a lasting impact,” Lovelace explains. “The secret is ultimately the love we share with one another, and the empathy we exude on a daily basis, not simply during a certain season.”
With its swirling, dreamlike piano prelude, the Lovelace and Anthony Hoisington-penned “Snow Globe” offers an artfully astute acknowledgement of the loneliness so many experience during the holiday season, while “Presents and Bows” is a reverent piano ballad carrying a timely and heartfelt plea: “Give me quiet in the noise/Less chaos when shopping for toys/All I really want/Is You God.”
The deeply personal “Holding Her Baby Boy” brings the project full circle for Lovelace. “The tender lyrics and moving melody were written by my dad, Tim Lovelace, alongside the incomparable Sue C. Smith and Lee Black for a Christmas musical,” Lovelace shares. “While I love every song Dad has ever written, as they are the preamble to my own path of expression, ‘Holding Her Baby Boy’ is one in particular that has always struck a chord within me. This song captures the intimate, yet grandiose paradox of the Virgin birth, and it is a weighty yet liberating experience to sing.”
“The Secret of Christmas is meant to be the soundtrack to the moment that inevitably comes every year when you’re quietly processing what the season is actually about,” Lovelace says of the EP. “The fuzzy, melancholic nostalgia that subtly bubbles up is worth making space for, especially with music that resonates. Hopefully these soothing tracks will accompany such special, personal moments of solitude or togetherness for people who are dealing with complicated emotions and memories during December.”
The Secret of Christmas follows Lovelace’s October Old Bear Records debut EP, Poetry in Emotion, a mosaic of stories and reflections that have shaped her perspective as an artist and writer. Lovelace is slated to share selections from The Secret of Christmas when she joins labelmates Brothers McClurg next month for the “Goin’ Back to Bethlehem” Tour, which will be making Upstate New York stops in Buffalo and Batavia, as well as Niagara Falls, Canada.
