“Merry Christmas, Emily” must be a pleasant stocking stuffer for diehard Cracker followers. This hungover different to the extra charged-up model on 2002’s Without end trades Johnny Hickman’s punchy, playful lead runs for some ambling, bittersweet metal guitar from Matt “Pistol” Stoessel.
“Going via some outdated tracks, I discovered a demo of this completely completely different model I’d utterly forgotten about,” says David Lowery, who cofounded Cracker with Hickman greater than 30 years in the past. “It struck me as a greater musical body for what’s primarily a darkish comedy: a washed-up rocker getting drunk on Christmas Day along with his youthful girlfriend, who’s likewise estranged from her household.”
Including to the pity social gathering, singer/songwriter Megan Slankard throws in as a extra developed vocal counterpoint to Lowery’s sad-sack protagonist. “The unreliable narrator’s rosy recollections thus turn into much more unreliable,” says Lowery. “Megan took the chance to primarily give voice to Emily. It’s virtually like a completely new tune.”
We’re proud to premiere “Merry Christmas, Emily,” which is included on the brand new three-LP/two-CD Different Historical past: A Cracker Retrospective, out tomorrow on Cooking Vinyl.
—Hobart Rowland
