Be sure to visit the Merge Holiday Store for our biggest sale of the year! Enter MERGEHOLIDAYS at checkout for 10% off all orders over $50—CDs, LPs, digital downloads, and Merge gear! All orders of $100 or more will receive a free Merge tote bag designed by Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner with help from Vic Chesnutt. Also, buy three or more LPs or preorder any of our 2013 releases on LP and receive a free Merge slipmat for your turntable!
All orders placed after 10 a.m. on December 21 will not ship until January 7, 2013. Pre-orders will ship to arrive on or around release date.
Tinsel and Lights is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store. The LP version includes Tracey’s rendition of “25th December” originally written and sung by Ben Watt on Everything But The Girl’s 1994 album Amplified Heart as well as limited-edition wrapping paper. Also, Tinsel and Lights is included in our special holiday superbundle with She & Him’s A Very She & Him Christmas. And don’t forget to use the Merge Holiday coupon at checkout! The “Joy” digital single can be found at iTunes.
Tracey Thorn is celebrating the holiday season with a new album Tinsel and Lights, and a new Advent Calendar with new treats every day until Christmas. Also, she premiered the new video for her original song “Joy,” today at Slate.com, and spoke with NPR’s Scott Simon over the weekend about her unconventional holiday album. A new digital single featuring the album version and new acoustic version of “Joy” is available at iTunes today as well.
Featuring ten seasonal cover versions of songs by Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Sufjan Stevens, Low and more as well as two new original tracks, Tinsel and Lights was produced by Ewan Pearson, and showcases Tracey’s famously rich vocals and contributions on guitar and piano.
NPR Weekend Edition writes, “A season for being with friends and family can be hard on those who are lonely; a season of giving can be hard on those who go without. All the tinsel and lights can also make people blink, shudder and wonder about which of life’s gifts they’ll never find under the tree — or which they’ll unwrap and find fleeting and fragile. The mixed blessings of the holiday season aren’t lost on Tracey Thorn. The new album by the English singer and songwriter, formerly of the dance-pop duo Everything but the Girl, is called Tinsel and Lights, and it confronts that ambivalence head on.”
Tinsel and Lights is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store. The LP version includes Tracey’s rendition of “25th December” originally written and sung by Ben Watt on Everything But The Girl’s 1994 album Amplified Heart as well as limited-edition wrapping paper. Also, Tinsel and Lights is included in our special holiday superbundle with She & Him’s A Very She & Him Christmas. And don’t forget to use the Merge Holiday coupon at checkout! The “Joy” digital single can be found at iTunes.
It’s December now, and if you’re the kind of person who reads record label blogs that can only mean one thing; you love music and probably can’t escape all the Christmas tunes. If Bing Crosby and Michael Buble aren’t cutting it for you this year, do yourself a favor and get down to your local record store for Tracey Thorn’s brand-new winter soundtrack Tinsel and Lights or the already-classic A Very She & Him Christmas.
If you’re lucky enough to live near one of these stores, you can enter to win a holiday prize pack featuring each of the aforementioned records on vinyl as well as a pair of toasty She & Him mittens and a set of specially designed Tinsel and Lights greeting cards. Talk to your store for specific entry and prize details.
The holiday season is upon us, and Tracey Thorn’s Tinsel and Lights is a beautiful new album to add to your collection!
Featuring ten seasonal cover versions of songs by Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Sufjan Stevens, Low and more as well as two new original tracks, Tinsel and Lights was produced by Ewan Pearson, and showcases Tracey’s famously rich vocals and contributions on guitar and piano. NPR says of the album, “Tinsel and Lights is as warmly rendered as it is achingly bittersweet.”
MTV Hive has premiered a 10-minute mini-documentary filmed while Tracey was recording Tinsel and Lights. John Norris spoke with her about how she chose the songs to cover and the process of making a holiday album.
Tinsel and Lights is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store. The LP version includes Tracey’s rendition of “25th December” originally written and sung by Ben Watt on Everything But The Girl’s 1994 album Amplified Heart as well as limited-edition wrapping paper. Also, Tinsel and Lights is included in our special holiday superbundle with She & Him’s A Very She & Him Christmas. And don’t forget to use the Merge Holiday coupon at checkout!
Start the holiday season now with Tinsel and Lights, Tracey Thorn‘s follow-up to her acclaimed 2010 album Love and Its Opposite.
Featuring ten seasonal cover versions of songs by Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Sufjan Stevens, Low and more as well as two new original tracks, Tinsel and Lights was produced by Ewan Pearson, and showcases Tracey’s famously rich vocals and contributions on guitar and piano.
New York Magazine included Tinsel and Lights in their “Picks for Fall” saying “Tinsel and Lights is part Christmas album, part covers album, and bound to be good company when it gets colder,” while The Guardian declares that the album, “captures the emotions particular to the season and stands comparison with anything [Thorn]‘s done.”
Tinsel and Lights is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store. The LP version includes Tracey’s rendition of “25th December” originally written and sung by Ben Watt on Everything But The Girl’s 1994 album Amplified Heart as well as limited-edition wrapping paper. CD and LP from the Merge store will receive a Tinsel and Lights holiday card set while supplies last.
On October 22, Merge will partner with Tracey’s UK label Strange Feeling Records to release a transatlantic double A-side digital single. The two tracks have been chosen to show different sides of the album: one is a part-contemporary, part-retro seasonal cover version; the other is an original penned by Tracey herself.
Strange Feeling is going with her stark cover version of Jack White’s “In the Cold, Cold Night” (previously performed by The White Stripes), while Merge has chosen the album’s rolling title track, “Tinsel and Lights,” a brand-new song written by Tracey.
“The album is a mixture of songs that give you that warm, fuzzy, festive glow and others that are perhaps a little darker and more wintry,” says Tracey. “This double A-side is a simple of way of showing what’s in the window.”
Stream “In The Cold, Cold Night” now at the Guardian‘s website, and pre-order Tinsel and Lights now in the Merge store. The first 100 preorders will receive a Tinsel and Lights holiday card set. All physical preorders will include a poster, and all LP preorders will include the poster plus gift wrap and a coupon for full download. Preorders and will ship to arrive on or around the release date of October 30.
On October 30, Tracey Thorn follows her acclaimed 2010 album Love and Its Opposite with a brand-new Christmas album, Tinsel and Lights, featuring ten seasonal cover versions, two new original tracks, and Green from Scritti Politti.
Produced by Ewan Pearson, Tinsel and Lights features Tracey’s famously rich vocals and contributions on guitar and piano. Her longtime partner, Ben Watt guests on guitar and piano on several tracks. Leo Taylor (Adele, Hot Chip) plays drums, Steve Pearce – who played on Everything But The Girl’s feted album, Idlewild – is on bass, while Pearson adds signature synths and electronics. Three tracks include orchestral arrangements by Nick Ingman.
Tracey says, “I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas record. Every year, when the Christmas albums start appearing in November, I get jealous and wish I had one coming out. Last year, I made a resolution to get recording in January to be ready for the following Christmas. And so that’s just what I did. They’re not all strictly Christmas songs, but if they mentioned winter or snow or even just being cold, that was good enough for me.”
Tinsel and Lights will be released on CD, LP and digital by Merge Records in North America and Strange Feeling in the UK/EU. The LP version will include Tracey’s rendition of “25th December” originally written and sung by Ben Watt on Everything But The Girl’s 1994 album Amplified Heart.
Track listing:
1. Joy (written by Tracey Thorn)
2. Hard Candy Christmas (originally performed by Dolly Parton)
3. Like a Snowman (written by Stephin Merritt)
4. Maybe This Christmas (written by Ron Sexsmith)
5. In the Cold, Cold Night (written by Jack White)
6. Snow (written by Randy Newman)
7. Snow in Sun (written by Green Gartside of Scritti Politti)
8. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (holiday classic)
9. Tinsel and Lights (written by Tracey Thorn)
10. River (written by Joni Mitchell)
11. Taking Down the Tree (feat. Green Gartside) (written by Low)
12. Sister Winter (written by Sufjan Stevens)
Bonus LP track: 25th December (written and originally sung by Ben Watt)
The holidays are right around the corner, and we want to make sure you know about some exciting new items in the Merge store!
Check out Tracey Thorn‘s new Night Time and You Are a Lover digital EPs. These EPs are also available limited-edition import vinyl. The Night Time 12-inch is even signed by Tracey and pressed on cool blue vinyl!
Merge is selling the limited-edition Wye Oak 7-inch of covers recorded as part of the AV Club Undercover series. “Strangers” b/w “Mother” is limited to only 1,000 copies and includes a cover of “Strangers” by the Kinks and “Mother” by Danzig. Also for Wye Oak fans, we have reissued their sophomore album The Knot on vinyl, and orders in the Merge store will include a signed poster!
Pre-orders are also available now for our January releases including Merge freshmen Hospitality and the return of Imperial Teen. Pre-order Hospitality’s self-titled debut album on CD or LP before its official release on January 31 to also receive via email their 6-song EP recorded in 2008 at their Red Hook apartment by Karl Blau. Imperial Teen’s fifth album Feel The Sound is also available for pre-order on CD and LP. Order now and your CD or LP will come with a cool poster. Hear tracks from both of these albums on our new Spotify “New Release” playlist!
Got your music fix but need new gear? Merge has you covered. She & Him Christmas winter accessories make a great addition to A Very She & Him Christmasand are available just in time for the holidays and winter season. Hats & mittens are going fast, so order yours today!
New additions to Merge Gear are Cranberry Merge Hoodies and Gray Track Jackets. These American Apparel outerwear options have metallic gold and silver Merge logos screened on them. They will keep you cozy while looking awesome. Not to mention, they are ridiculously comfortable!
In the summer of 2010, Mercury Prize winners (and Everything But The Girl fans) The xx asked Tracey Thorn and her long-time partner in EBTG Ben Watt to record a track from The xx’s debut album for a special compilation the band was commissioning of covers of the album’s songs by their favorite artists.
Unfortunately, the project fell apart a few months later for numerous logistical reasons (not the least of which was the second wind breathed into the original album by the Mercury Prize victory) but not before Tracey had sung a new version of one of the album’s most beautiful songs, “Night Time.”
The track gathered dust for a few months, but it is rightfully seeing the light of day on a new digital EP from Tracey Thorn called Night Time, available today!
Night Time track listing:
1. Night Time
2. Swimming (Visionquest Remix, Ewan Pearson Re-Edit)
3. Swimming (Charles Webster Remix)
4. Swimming (Charles Webster Dub)
On November 8, Merge Records will release Extended Plays, an extensive digital compilation that includes the Night Time EP and all other bonus content that Tracey has compiled with the release of Love and Its Opposite. Pre-order Extended Plays now at iTunes.
Tracey writes:
Although there is a minimal and traditional feel to the recordings on Love And Its Opposite, the remixes and B-sides from the same period offer more experimentation and playfulness. “Taxi Cab” was recorded in an afternoon for fun. The Andre Lodemann remix of “Why Does The Wind?” is one of my favourite deep house mixes of my songs, and WALLS brought a woozy dreaminess to the reflective “Kentish Town.” I love them all. A perfect companion piece to the original album.
Extended Plays 2010-2011 track listing:
1. Taxi Cab (Vampire Weekend Cover)
2. Why Does the Wind? (Ewan Pearson Radio Edit)
3. Why Does the Wind? (Morgan Geist Remix)
4. Why Does the Wind? (Michel Cleis Remix)
5. Why Does the Wind? (Andre Lodemann Remix)
6. Why Does the Wind? (Andre Lodemann Dub)
7. Swimming (Visionquest Remix)
8. Kentish Town (Walls Remix)
9. Late in the Afternoon (Blue Daisy Remix)
10. You Are a Lover (Clock Opera Remix)
11. Sister Winter (Sufjan Stevens Cover)
12. Night Time (The xx Cover)
13. Swimming (Visionquest Remix, Ewan Pearson Re-Edit)
14. Swimming (Charles Webster Remix)
15. Swimming (Charles Webster Underwater Mix)
In the summer of 2010, Mercury Prize winners (and Everything But The Girl fans) The xx asked Tracey Thorn and her long-time partner in EBTG Ben Watt to record a track from The xx’s debut album for a special compilation the band was commissioning of covers of the album’s songs by their favorite artists. Unfortunately, the project fell apart a few months later for numerous logistical reasons (not the least of which was the second wind breathed into the original album by the Mercury Prize victory) but not before Tracey had sung a new version of one of the album’s most beautiful songs, “Night Time.”
The track gathered dust for a few months, but it is rightfully seeing the light of day on a new EP from Tracey Thorn called Night Time, to be released on Merge on November 1.
“Night Time” was handpicked by Tracey and features Ben guesting on guitars and backing vocals (it’s the first time the two have played together on a recording in over ten years) with the drums, programming, and mix coming courtesy of Tracey’s current production collaborator Ewan Pearson (producer of both Tracey’s recent acclaimed album Love and Its Oppositeand 2007’s Out of the Woods). As Tracey rearticulates Romy’s lyrics, Ben fluidly arpeggiates the original interwoven guitar lines into one seamless pass while Ewan adds crisp, fresh half-tempo drums, atmospheric misty synths, and booming bass.
“Swimming,” one of Love and Its Opposite’s most popular tracks,is also revisited on this release. Ewan buffs up and re-edits last year’s remix by then-emerging-and-now-current dance producers du jour Visionquest (Detroit’s Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, and Lee Curtiss) into a new version, with judicious new drum parts and a sparkling widescreen mix-down. Meanwhile, UK underground house legend Charles Webster adds his magic to “Swimming” too, with a beautifully percussive main mix and a rainy, autumnal dub.
Tracey Thorn’s Night Time EP will be released on Merge as a digital download on November 1. Pre-order the Night Time digital EP now in the Merge store. Also, you can pre-order Night Time on blue vinyl from Buzzin’ Fly in the UK.
Night Time track listing:
1. Night Time
2. Swimming (Visionquest Remix, Ewan Pearson Re-Edit)
3. Swimming (Charles Webster Remix)
4. Swimming (Charles Webster Dub)
On November 8, Merge Records will release Extended Plays, an extensive digital compilation that includes the Night Time EP and all other bonus content that Tracey has compiled with the release of Love and Its Opposite. Pre-order Extended Plays now at iTunes.
Tracey writes:
Although there is a minimal and traditional feel to the recordings on Love And Its Opposite, the remixes and B-sides from the same period offer more experimentation and playfulness. “Taxi Cab” was recorded in an afternoon for fun. The Andre Lodemann remix of “Why Does The Wind?” is one of my favourite deep house mixes of my songs, and WALLS brought a woozy dreaminess to the reflective “Kentish Town.” I love them all. A perfect companion piece to the original album.
Extended Plays 2010-2011 track listing:
1. Taxi Cab (Vampire Weekend Cover)
2. Why Does the Wind? (Ewan Pearson Radio Edit)
3. Why Does the Wind? (Morgan Geist Remix)
4. Why Does the Wind? (Michel Cleis Remix)
5. Why Does the Wind? (Andre Lodemann Remix)
6. Why Does the Wind? (Andre Lodemann Dub)
7. Swimming (Visionquest Remix)
8. Kentish Town (Walls Remix)
9. Late in the Afternoon (Blue Daisy Remix)
10. You Are a Lover (Clock Opera Remix)
11. Sister Winter (Sufjan Stevens Cover)
12. Night Time (The xx Cover)
13. Swimming (Visionquest Remix, Ewan Pearson Re-Edit)
14. Swimming (Charles Webster Remix)
15. Swimming (Charles Webster Underwater Mix)
Tracey Thorn’s Love and Its Opposite is out now on CD, LP, and digital download on Merge Records.
The Merge store version includes a free set of five JPG wallpapers created specifically for iPhone (320×480), iPad (1024×1024), and monitor resolutions 1280×800, 1680×1050, and 1920×1200. The iPad version is available for free to test out; all others only available with purchase exclusively in the Merge store.
The You Are a Lover EP was originally released as a limited-edition Record Store Day UK 10-inch on green vinyl. There are a few copies available in the Merge store in addition to the digital version.
Got a blog? Want to interview Tracey Thorn? Email us the link to your blog plus six imaginative questions about the new EP, Tracey’s most recent album, Love and Its Opposite or anything at all, really! The best blogs with the best questions will get a personal set of answers from Tracey. And when it’s finished, we’ll even circulate the link to your interview to push more people your way.
If you have a burning question for Tracey or if this just sounds like fun, send your entry to merge@mergerecords.com by May 24, 2011.
You Are a Lover EP track listing:
1. You Are a Lover (Clock Opera Remix)
2. You Are a Lover (album version)
3. Sister Winter (Sufjan Stevens cover)
To kick off the last week of the year here at Merge HQ, we are giving away a Merge Holiday SuperBundle as well as a CD of Julian Koster’s The Singing Saw at Christmastime. To enter, send us a photo of your favorite holiday scene via Instagram (@MergeRecords) or email (merge@mergerecords.com). We’ll choose the winner on Friday, December 21st.
