I held onto The Green Apple Sea’s newest single “December” until it turned December because that’s who I am. I like traditions and sentimentality, and I adore this month because Christmas is inside it (even though sometimes circumstances can turn holidays into the most difficult time of year).
In soft, sweeping folk language, The Green Apple Sea tells us of loss and heartache in “December”, a track shaded in heavy blues and grays. There’s a temporary sense of hope at the chorus when he says, “And now we’re singing ‘Silent Night’, and everything is going to be alright.” It’s eventually followed by the song’s bitter end, “There’s nothing you can say. There’s nothing you can do. ‘Cause somewhere inside of me, I’m always gonna hate you,” after which he turns his back to walk away, plucking cold strings as he goes.
Permeated with a gentle loneliness and a heavy hollow, The Green Apple Sea gracefully leave behind traces of what it feels like to be sad in December. The German folkers released a split single earlier this year and are set to release their fourth full-length early in 2014. Until then, though, listen to their beautifully somber single above.