Portland-based indie pop band, Corvair is pleased to release their latest Christmas song, a cover of Low’s “Long Way Around the Sea” out today onPaper Walls Records (US) and wiaiwya records (UK).This is the fourth Christmas song that Corvair has released in four years and they are currently working on a Christmas EP to be released in 2024. “Long Way Around the Sea,” along with its accompanying video, debuted this week at Christmas A Go Go and is available now on all streaming services for any playlist shares.
Singer and guitarist Brian Naubert says of the decision to cover the song, “Low’s Christmas album, which was released in 1999, is one of my favorite holiday albums of all time. I’ve always been very interested in Christmas music, including making my own, but their record completely redefined for me what the genre could be. It’s so profound, there’s not one saccharine moment.”
Singer Heather Larimer adds, “I’ve been making Christmas music since my first band, Eux Autres. And I usually like to try to push the subject matter a bit dark. For instance, the first one I co-wrote (“Another Christmas at Home”) was about a dive bar in Omaha. But this year, it felt right to cover a Low song, one that is written deep inside the original Christmas Story. Even just the phrase ‘take the long way around the sea,’ with all of its sustained open vowels, is very poignant. It cracks your heart open to sing it.”
The song was recorded by Naubert and Larimer at their home studio. Unlike the original, the Corvair version adds drums played by Michael Musburger and cello played by Naubert’s father Charles, who was one of the main musicians on the Northwest classic album, Merry Christmas from the Sonics, Wailers and Galaxies.
Naubert adds, “Our band owes so much to Low. They are the pinnacle of male/female harmonies, so inventive and stirring. Making this was especially important to me this year.”
“Long Way Around the Sea” was recorded by Naubert and Larimer at their studio in Portland, OR. The track was produced and engineered by Naubert, mixed by Beau Sorenson and mastered by Justin Perkins.
