Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
$1CAD or more
about
"The east coast of Canada in the winter is a tough place and season to be alone and missing someone," Tara MacLean says about her wistful new song, "Kiss in December." "But there is also something romantic about it."
Romantic enough to change someone's life, in fact, which is exactly what happened to MacLean many Decembers ago, when the kiss in question happened as ice collected in the Charlottetown Harbour. But it's often that an event so charged has only a brief lifespan; to keep it from receding too far into memory's hazier corners, we have to revisit events like kisses. Paying tribute to those moments is a way to hold onto and pay tribute to them, a way to hold them close.
With Christmas on the horizon, there are more than enough holiday heartbreak songs to go around. But few are imbued with so much gratitude for the love that led to the sorrow. Over delicate guitar and piano, MacLean recreates a seaside kiss perhaps destined to be the last one between her and a lover who has to leave. Melancholy strings drift longingly under the PEI songwriter's hushed vocals as she acknowledges the gravity of the communion and the ache it's bound to create: "The storm is coming in—I know we may never touch again; the way you melted on my tongue, unlike any other one… winter's begun."
"This song makes me feel that sweet melancholy of walking in the snow alone, sitting by the ocean when it's full of ice, reflecting on life and love," MacLean says. "I love walking around the harbour at night in the winter, no matter the weather. I bundle up and the sky is often crystal clear and the stars are brighter. It's beautiful."
"Kiss in December" was co-written and produced by Catherine MacLellan, who grew up alongside MacLean as a result of their fathers being a touring musical duo. Their last collaboration, 2020's "This Storm," explored similar themes of heartache and the tyranny of distance.
lyrics
There’s ice in the harbour again
Snow is drifting around
I remember when you took my hand
Then without making a sound
I leaned in to kiss you
The frost on the window
Made patterns in the light
Something ignited
We just couldn’t fight it
Do you remember
That kiss in December
Are no two snowflakes the same
I guess that we’ll just never know
I miss the way you’d say my name
And write it in the snow
You leaned in to whisper
That you’d always love me
But that you had to go
Something divided
We just couldn’t right it
Do you remember
That kiss in December
And now the storm is coming in
Though we may never touch again
The way you melted on my tongue
Unlike any other one
Winter's begun
There’s ice in the harbour again
The snow is drifting around
credits
released November 24, 2023
Written by Tara MacLean & Catherine MacLellan
Published by Sony Music Publishing & Catherine MacLellan
Produced by Catherine MacLellan
Mixed by Catherine MacLellan
Recorded by Catherine MacLellan at Baie (Egmont, PEI)
Mastered by J. LaPointe at Archive Mastering
Artwork by Tara MacLean
Musicians:
Tara MacLean - lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Catherine MacLellan - piano, electric guitar and backing vocals
Kinley Dowling - volin and viola
Mark Westberg - bass
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 15, 2024
Michelle Stodart’s folk music captures hope in melancholy, addressing the transformational aspects of the most challenging times. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 3, 2023
Oakland singer-songwriter honors her Haitian heritage with five R&B spirituals overflowing with radiance, fueled by her soft, angelic voice. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 22, 2022
