EP Review: Michaela Anne - Happy Xmas

Let us stipulate: Wham!’s “Last Christmas” is never again to be played; cover versions of the Hallmark movie as song are henceforth banned.

Michaela Anne didn’t get the memo before recording her four-song Happy XMas EP and therefore, one-quarter of the release is a wash. The other 75 percent works to varying degrees.

The title track is, in fact, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s perennial with the parenthetical “(War is Over).” And while remakes are pointless, Anne gets Santa points for not embarrassing herself as other artists have on this number. That said, “Happy XMas” belongs to Lennon and Ono.

Anne is at her best - high on the nice list - on a melancholy, orchestral arrangement of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” It’s outfitted with a measure of “Jingle Bells” to tie it nicely to the EP-closing “River.”

The Joni Mitchell cover follows the song that shall not be named and is a sincere tip of the beret to the magical Mitchell, who is having herself quite a year.

Grade card: Michaela Anne - Happy Xmas - C+

Michaela Anne at The Hangar in Troy Oct 2022

Michaela Anne Cancels Mountain Stage Appearance after COVID Diagnosis

An “absolutely crushed” Michaela Anne canceled her appearance at West Virginia’s Mountain Stage after she and her family contracted COVID-19.

Anne suspects she caught the coronavirus when she and her family took a plane trip - their first since a federal judge lifted the mask mandate - to visit her mother.

“Even with all of our travels this past year, we’ve continued to live a pretty careful, semi-isolated, masked-up life to try and avoid this exact scenario … and incurring the financial loss of a self-employed household losing work for over a week,” Anne said in a statement. “But, these are the times and we know are far from alone in it.”

The singer described “scary, sky-high fevers” and days in bed but said “we seem to all be slowly on the mend.”

Her next scheduled gig is June 16 in Tennessee.

“I’m absolutely crushed to cancel Mountain Stage radio show … but know we will reschedule,” she said.

Recensie: Michaela Anne - Desert Dove // @MyMichaelaAnne @yeproc

Michaela Anne – Desert Dove Format: CD – Vinyl – Digital / Label: Yep Roc Release: 2019

Tekst: Peter Marinus

Starend naar de hoes van dit album word ik langzaam, maar zeker, betoverd door de bleke schoonheid van singer-songwriter Michaela Anne. Zij is afkomstig uit een militair gezin hetgeen inhield dat zij door de hele USA trok. Het is niet alleen schoonheid waardoor je betoverd wordt. Ook door de…