"White Winter Hymnal" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Fleet Foxes | ||||
from the album Fleet Foxes | ||||
A-side | "White Winter Hymnal" | |||
B-side | "Isles" | |||
Released | July 21, 2008 | |||
Recorded | 2007 | |||
Length | 2:27 | |||
Label | Bella Union | |||
Songwriter(s) | Robin Pecknold | |||
Producer(s) | Phil Ek | |||
Fleet Foxes singles chronology | ||||
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"White Winter Hymnal" is the first single from Fleet Foxes' debut 2008 self-titled album. [1] Released by European label Bella Union on July 21, 2008, the single was issued on 7" vinyl as well as digital MP3 format. The B-side is the non-album track "Isles".
Former Cocteau Twins bassist Simon Raymonde, the head of record label Bella Union, was considering shutting it down due to financial troubles, but after hearing a demo version of "White Winter Hymnal", he was motivated to continue going on and signed Fleet Foxes to the label based on how much he liked the song. [2]
All songs written by Robin Pecknold.
Time critic Josh Tyrangiel named this the #5 song of 2008. [3] Pitchfork Media ranked it the #2 song of 2008 and #66 on their decade end list. [4]
"White Winter Hymnal" has been covered by several artists and featured in other media.
It was covered by ARORA on the album Sonosings (2009). It also appeared on Birdy's debut album Birdy (2011) and Kina Grannis's album Stairwells (2011).
In 2010, the song was parodied by The Fringemunks to recap Fringe episode 2.20, "Northwest Passage". [5]
British vocalist Kim Wilde released a version on her 2013 Christmas album Wilde Winter Songbook , performed with her father Marty Wilde and brother Ricky Wilde.
In 2014 it was also covered by a cappella group Pentatonix on their album That's Christmas to Me .
In the eighth season of Danish TV series X Factor , it was covered by group Ivarsson, Bang & Neumann.
The song is used in the opening credits to the Hulu series, The Path . It also appears on the soundtrack for the 2015 movie Love the Coopers . [6]
Phish performed an a cappella version as part of their 2017 "Baker’s Dozen" residency at Madison Square Garden. [7]
In 2017, British television presenter and singer Alexander Armstrong covered the song on his Christmas album, In a Winter Light . [8]
In 2021, this song was used for the Spanish Christmas Lottery commercial.
In 2024, this song was featured in the Netflix original series Sweet Tooth (TV series) in season 3, episode 3.
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [9] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. Fraser's vocals included unknown words she found in foreign language books, adding to the band's dreamy ambience. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze.
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show Pointless, and is a weekday morning-show presenter on Classic FM.
Vetiver is an American folk band headed by songwriter Andy Cabic.
Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde.
Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century. It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.
"Kids in America" is a song recorded by English pop singer Kim Wilde. It was released in the United Kingdom as her debut single in January 1981, and in the United States in spring 1982, later appearing on her self-titled debut studio album. Largely inspired by the synth-pop style of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and Gary Numan, the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks and number one in Finland and South Africa, and charted in the top 10 of many European charts as well as Australia and New Zealand. In North America, the song reached the top 40 in Canada and the United States. It was certified gold in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Sweden; and has sold over three million copies worldwide. The song has been covered by many artists from different genres.
"O come, O come, Emmanuel" is a Christian hymn for Advent, which is also often published in books of Christmas carols. The text was originally written in Latin. It is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, a series of plainchant antiphons attached to the Magnificat at Vespers over the final days before Christmas. The hymn has its origins over 1,200 years ago in monastic life in the 8th or 9th century. Seven days before Christmas Eve monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in anticipation of Christmas Eve when the eighth antiphon, “O Virgo virginum” would be sung before and after Mary's canticle, the Magnificat. The Latin metrical form of the hymn was composed as early as the 12th century.
Fleet Foxes are an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band currently consists of Robin Pecknold, Skyler Skjelset, Casey Wescott, Christian Wargo, and Morgan Henderson. Founding members Pecknold and Skjelset have been the only constants through the group's history, with the former serving as leader and principal songwriter.
Fleet Foxes is the debut studio album by American band Fleet Foxes, released on June 3, 2008, by Sub Pop and Bella Union. The album garnered wide praise from critics, many of whom named it one of the best albums of the 2000s and one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
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Mykonos is a song by American indie folk band Fleet Foxes, from their second EP Sun Giant (2008). It was released in the UK on January 27, 2009, by European label Bella Union; in the format of 7" vinyl as well as a digital download, and peaked at number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side is a live version of "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" from their debut album. On May 5, 2009, it was released in the U.S. on Seattle-based record label Sub Pop, with the song "False Knight On the Road" in place of "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song". An alternate version of the song, with a track length of 3:39, was released on the deluxe version of their debut album Fleet Foxes.
Helplessness Blues is the second studio album by American band Fleet Foxes, released on May 3, 2011, by Sub Pop and Bella Union. The album received universal acclaim from critics, going on to be nominated for Best Folk Album at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The release peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest position on the chart to date. To support the album, the Fleet Foxes embarked on a worldwide Helplessness Blues Tour.
Mountain Man is an American singing trio of women described as "nestled in the tradition of American folk" with a traditional Appalachian folk sound. They have earned acclaim from a number of music critics. They often sing a cappella, with a "sparse, haunting, hymnal beauty" sometimes accompanied by soft acoustic guitar, but with their voices "virtually unadorned", according to Guardian critic Paul Lester. The group toured with the vocalist Feist in 2011, and New York Times music reviewer Ben Ratliff described their performance as "creating shifting harmonies" which "worked perfectly".
Pentatonix are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, scat singing, riffing, vocal percussion, and beatboxing, they produce cover versions of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix was formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony's Epic Records dropped the group after The Sing-Off, the group formed its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures.
"Winter Song" is a seasonal song co-written and co-sung as a duet by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. Although considered by many to be a Christmas song, no explicit reference to the holiday can be found in its lyrics. It appeared on the holiday compilation album The Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs by various female artists, released in 2008 through Epic Records. It became a minor hit in Canada in 2008, reaching number 97. Upon release in Ireland in 2011, it reached number two for two weeks. A special charity single by #twitterxmassingle was also a separate hit in Ireland alongside the original version, reaching number eight.
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