Chris Stapleton and Norah Jones: a match made in coffee house heaven.
If you love jazz, blues, country, and Christmas, two artists known for their distinctive voices and styles just gifted you with the perfect, sad song for the holidays. And if you ask me, the “most wonderful time of the year” could use a couple more somber tunes.
I love Christmas just as much as the next guy, but I understand that the holiday season isn’t a happy one for everybody out there.
In this new song titled “April’s Gone,” which Jones penned with producer Leon Michels, a couple struggling to find a spark looks to Christmas to help bring them together. The talented singer with hits like “Don’t Know Why” and “Come Away With Me” says that as soon as the song was written out, she naturally imagined Stapleton’s vocals on it:
“After Leon and I wrote ‘April’s Gone,’ I couldn’t stop hearing Chris’ voice in my head singing it. I’ve always loved him and wanted to sing with him.”
So Norah Jones got connected with Chris Stapleton, and the country music star happily joined the song. The pair recorded the Christmas song and just released it today, with plenty of time before the craziness of the holiday season hits.
Is October a little early for a Christmas release, at least for my liking? Yes… but that’s a story for another time and another place.
“April’s Gone” gets a pass because, though it might be categorized as a Christmas song, it can certainly be enjoyed outside of the holiday season. Even the song itself dances through different parts of the year, as you can see in the first verse (which Stapleton and Jones trade back and forth):
“In the spring, you gave me flowers
We played with color everywhere
And in the fall, the leaves were falling
And the room was just left bare
Now it’s Christmas once again
And I wonder if you want me or if you care
Do you still care?”
It’s the chorus of the new track that makes it a Christmas song… and a sad one at that. The pair in the story is looking for some magic to help bring them together, and they are hoping that the holidays are enough to mend the issues that they’re dealing with relationally:
“Cause April’s gone, but here we are
Well, this Christmas, make it right
Light the lights
Bring our love back to the start.”
And by the end of the song, the couple’s plan seems to actually work, at least for the time being. It’s a creative and refreshing stab at the Christmas genre, and obviously, any track is going to work if you have Norah Jones and Chris Stapleton singing on it.
Two of the best voices on the planet coming together to craft a somber-yet-hopeful Christmas song. The lyrics themselves are strong enough on their own… but Jones undoubtedly made the right call bringing Stapleton aboard.
“April’s Gone” by Norah Jones and Chis Stapleton
