Phoebe Bridgers’ recently released her cover of Merle Haggard’s If We Make It Through December which has brought a mellow, yet beautiful, beginning to an unprecedented festive season.
Haggard’s 1973 track fits the austere and sombre experiences that 2020 has brought. Lyrics such as “Got laid off down at the factory / And their timing’s not the greatest in the world” coincide with Pheobe Bridgers’ trademark style that is both haunting yet beautiful, making for an extremely relevant and reflective piece of art.
The cover was produced by the incredibly talented Ethan Gruska and Tony Berg.
All proceeds from Bridgers’ cover of If We Make It Through December will be donated to the Los Angeles’ Downtown Women’s Center – a centre and facility in LA focusing on empowering and serving women who have previously experienced or are currently experiencing homelessness.
Bridgers has also released an EP, with If We Make It Through December as the title track. The EP is a compilation of four festive tracks, including some reimagined family favourites: If We Make It Through December; 7 O’Clock News; Christmas Song; and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Phoebe Bridgers may not be the first artist expected to make a Christmas EP but through doing so she has ended 2020 with such a gift for her listeners.
This EP comes following a busy period for Bridgers, which has seen the release of the Copycat Killer EP – her new album Punisher – and also the launch of her own record label – Saddest Factory.
Caitlin Parr
Featured image courtesy of David Lee on Wikimedia Commons. Image licence can be found here. No changes were made to the image.
Caitlin Parr
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Caitlin is an MA student at Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture alongside distance learning with the NCTJ. Outside of Empoword, she works in local news and radio in Cardiff, whilst also working with/writing for organisations such as Cardiff Women's Aid, Girlguiding and Change Grow Live. In her spare time she's a musician!