Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Christmas Eve Can Kill You [2012]

The Holiday Season begins...

Like Sufjan Stevens, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and frequent collaborator Dawn McCarthy (of Faun Fables) are getting in the spirit with a holiday-themed record, in the form of a 7″ featuring a pair of Everly Brothers covers. But unlike Santa Stevens, who is turning Xmas into a blood-soaked stain on our psyches, Billy and McCarthy use the video for “Christmas Eve Can Kill You” to prove festiveness isn’t about lights or presents, but rather a feeling in the old ticker.

The video utilizes footage from the recording sessions at the Butcher Shop Studio in Nashville and the lush hills of McCreary County, Kentucky, creating a summery vibe of down-home family life that couldn’t be further from a White Christmas. Still, the music itself makes up for the holly jolly deficit, with lyrics about hitchhiking to see family in the middle of a snowy downfall set to gentle, mournful strings as crisp as the air on Christmas Eve.