Eclectic musician Poppy announced a new four-song Christmas EP called A Very Poppy Christmas, due December 1 via Sumerian Records. She shared a song from it, “I Won’t Be Home For Christmas,” which offers a sadder perspective on the holiday season.

Keys loosely quote part of the Christmas classic “Silent Night” before Poppy comes in with the lyrics, “Where are you now?/I can’t tell how long it’s been.” Instrumentally, it’s mostly lo-fi electronic piano with some sparse drum clicks during the chorus. The verse repeats as Poppy sings about heartbreak and a relationship that didn’t work out, then the chorus comes again and she sings, “No, I won’t be home for Christmas/Baby, tell me nothing’s changed/In your heart you feel the same/We created all this distance/And I know you’re missing me/And I don’t know where I’ll be/But I won’t be home for Christmas.”

Poppy sings calmly, heavily contrasting the chaos of her last proper album, I Disagree, an alternative metal-influenced album which came out in January this year. She expanded that album with some bonus tracks over the summer, including “Khaos x4.” In June, she released a cover of t.A.T.u.’s “All the Things She Said.” An instrumental Poppy album called Music to Scream To came out in October, which is comparable to 3:36 (Music to Sleep To) and I C U (Music to Read To) but far noisier.

Her plans for a U.S. tour with Deftones and Gojira this year had to be postponed due to COVID-19. They decided to reschedule the dates to fall 2021.

A Very Poppy Christmas Track List

1. I Like Presents
2. I Won’t Be Home For Christmas
3. Kiss in the Snow
4. Silver Bells

Photo credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva