Grammy-nominated musician Mary Lambert has kept busy since she began sheltering in place last March. Now, she's got a holiday EP, Happy Holigays, which drops Friday, and The Advocate has the exclusive premiere of her breathtaking holiday song "Seasonal Depression."
"If you're alone and the snow's coming down all around / Maybe your sad cuz this year's been harder than most. This song's for you," Lambert sings in "Seasonal Depression."
"I always had this vision of writing the perfect Christmas song. Lyrics like 'stockings by the fireplace' and 'having family close' and being cozy and warm, but then I thought about how different this year is going to be," Lambert tells The Advocate.
"How lonely for a lot of folks, how precarious, and scary. I thought about people who have lost family members to COVID, and painting a rosy picture around the holidays just isn't real. My lens switched to, How can I help?"
Lambert skyrocketed to fame in 2013 when she sang her song "She Keeps Me Warm" on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's "Same Love." Her albums include Heart on My Sleeve and Grief Creature.
A thoughtful songwriter whose music addresses her queer identity, living with depression, and body positivity, Lambert published her book of poems Shame Is an Ocean I Swim Across in 2018.
Regarding "Seasonal Depression," she says, "I considered writing a song called 'All I Want for Christmas Is Therapy,' but 'Seasonal Depression' just felt more accurate."
"Sometimes I need reminders to take my meds or eat a snack and thought this might help other folks like me: people who aren't concerned about finding the right Christmas song, they're worried about making it out of this alive," she adds.
Lambert wrote, produced, and engineered Happy Holigays in her home. Watch the video for "Seasonal Depression" below.
