The basic rhythm of Christmas music news is that most Rock and Pop artists won't be announcing their plans before Labor Day (Billy Corgan aside). But these rules don't necessarily apply overseas. Coming for the holidays in 2019...it's gonna be a Clean Pete Christmas!
Clean Pete is/are twin sisters Loes and Renée Wijnhoven from the Netherlands. Loes plays guitar and Renée plays the cello. Together they make beautiful Pop music that ranges from Gospel to Indie Rock. They made their recording debut in 2012, while their most recent album was last year's "Afblijven". And the sisters are currently working to capture the magic of Christmas mid-summer, as they record a Christmas album for release later this year.
Clean Pete are no strangers to Christmas music, having recorded a series of seasonal singles over the years--mostly as duets with other artists. 2016's "Gaan we Kerstmis samen vieren?" ("Are We Going To Celebrate Christmas Together?"), with Marien Dorleijn, is my personal favorite (see above video).
And I know you're asking and, yes, they can also sing in English.
Clean Pete are no strangers to Christmas music, having recorded a series of seasonal singles over the years--mostly as duets with other artists. 2016's "Gaan we Kerstmis samen vieren?" ("Are We Going To Celebrate Christmas Together?"), with Marien Dorleijn, is my personal favorite (see above video).
And I know you're asking and, yes, they can also sing in English.
"Make It 'Till Christmas" got a lot of play in 2014. Most holiday songs of the type tend to be about being together or falling apart. Few capture the insecurities of a new holiday romance so well. I mean, honestly--Hallmark movies aside--if you meet someone and "fall in love" at Christmas...is it really love or is it just the magic of the season? Or maybe you just didn't want to be alone on Christmas. Is this present too much or too little? I don't want to give something that says "spend your life with me" but I don't want to give something that says I'm a cheap bastard who doesn't care at all. God, I hope this thing lasts long enough to get me through the holidays. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's just make it through Christmas before we "have the talk" and put a name on it.
Clean Pete released "Kerstdiner" (with Anne Soldaat) in 2017 and last year brought us the epic eight and a half minute "Kerstverhaal". "Kerstverhaal" ("Christmas Story") is fun and sweet. Loes writes to Mark Lohmann (Moon Moon Moon) to say (I'm paraphrasing), "Have you ever done a Christmas song? I see you tagged our band on Facebook and I checked you out on Soundcloud. You might know that we do a Christmas song every year and I pick someone whose music I like to do it with. We had someone else lined up this year, but that kind of fell apart and it's getting close to Christmas. I like your music and I was thinking of doing a song with lots of words. It doesn't have to rhyme. Let me know if you're interested." That's the text. The subtext, which even I couldn't miss, is that she thinks Mark is pretty cute and is hoping for a date.
Mark writes back, apologizing for the lackluster melody he's providing and for playing Clean Pete's songs on Soundcloud repeatedly (he thinks it might come off as creepy). But he likes the idea of doing a song together with lots of words that don't rhyme. He's in.
The two get together, take a walk to the Christmas market, hang out by the fire, watch "The Grinch" on TV. They're having a splendid time. But will that Christmas song ever get written? It gets late and Loes asks Mark to stay with her by the fire on this cold night. And, should she fall asleep, she asks that he wake her up...so the night...can last... forever. See? It's sweet. And it's a modern day love story (complete with shoutouts to Facebook and Soundcloud) that is also traditional. The world may always be moving forward, but romance is the same in any era.
I've no idea whether any or all of their previous holiday singles will be included on Clean Pete's coming Christmas album. Or how much traditional music will be included (the sisters released a bonus holiday video of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" on YouTube last year). But they are my early pick for my import purchase of the year for 2019. If past is prologue, there will be vinyl (for the album, not the singles).
Clean Pete released "Kerstdiner" (with Anne Soldaat) in 2017 and last year brought us the epic eight and a half minute "Kerstverhaal". "Kerstverhaal" ("Christmas Story") is fun and sweet. Loes writes to Mark Lohmann (Moon Moon Moon) to say (I'm paraphrasing), "Have you ever done a Christmas song? I see you tagged our band on Facebook and I checked you out on Soundcloud. You might know that we do a Christmas song every year and I pick someone whose music I like to do it with. We had someone else lined up this year, but that kind of fell apart and it's getting close to Christmas. I like your music and I was thinking of doing a song with lots of words. It doesn't have to rhyme. Let me know if you're interested." That's the text. The subtext, which even I couldn't miss, is that she thinks Mark is pretty cute and is hoping for a date.
Mark writes back, apologizing for the lackluster melody he's providing and for playing Clean Pete's songs on Soundcloud repeatedly (he thinks it might come off as creepy). But he likes the idea of doing a song together with lots of words that don't rhyme. He's in.
The two get together, take a walk to the Christmas market, hang out by the fire, watch "The Grinch" on TV. They're having a splendid time. But will that Christmas song ever get written? It gets late and Loes asks Mark to stay with her by the fire on this cold night. And, should she fall asleep, she asks that he wake her up...so the night...can last... forever. See? It's sweet. And it's a modern day love story (complete with shoutouts to Facebook and Soundcloud) that is also traditional. The world may always be moving forward, but romance is the same in any era.
I've no idea whether any or all of their previous holiday singles will be included on Clean Pete's coming Christmas album. Or how much traditional music will be included (the sisters released a bonus holiday video of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" on YouTube last year). But they are my early pick for my import purchase of the year for 2019. If past is prologue, there will be vinyl (for the album, not the singles).
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