taylor-phelan-merry-little-christmas

Photo courtesy of Reckoning PR

Taylor Phelan – “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (video) (premiere)

The indie rocker of The Voice acclaim offers a synth-swept take on a Christmas classic.

Fans of The Voice will likely remember Taylor Phelan. The Texan pop-rock artist was a favorite on the show during its seventh season. Now, though, with the reality show in his rear-view, Phelan is making himself known as a rising name on the indie circuit.


Teaming up with producer Joshua D. Niles, Phelan released a new EP, 1 of 2, earlier this year following his being signed to Native Nine. Now, fittingly enough for the season, he’s following it up with a collection of his own distinctive takes on Christmas classics with Cypress. This new holiday EP releases on 8 December.

While the melody is kept largely intact, by and large, this still isn’t your old-school “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Phelan treats the song’s original structure with enough respect not to alienate its fans but introduces his blend of studio shellac to make it stand apart from the crowd. Some work behind an acoustic guitar and his trademark keyboard create a contemporary soundscape for his tender vocals to navigate, very much crafting the sort respectable, ethereal indie rock that longtime fans of the songwriter have come to hope for and applying it to this holiday chestnut.

“This has always been my favorite time of the year and even more-so now that I have kids,” says Phelan. “I’ve always wanted to release something around the holidays, and this year I decided to put something together. I recorded these in my home studio and learned that all you need is a sleigh bell to make something sound like Christmas!”