As far as holiday music goes, Mariah Carey has a lock on Christmas, Adam Sandler has Hanukkah and the "Monster Mash" is almost synonymous with Halloween — but, apart from "Auld Lang Syne" which is almost definitely in the public domain, New Year's is still pretty much up for grabs. Well, at least it was until Let's Eat Grandma entered the conversation.
Back with the third single off their forthcoming album, Two Ribbons, the British synth-pop duo of Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth has released "Happy New Year." An explosion of bright chords, electro bass and actual fireworks, "Happy New Year" sees Let's Eat Grandma practically beaming with a giddy, ecstatic energy as they sing about the strength of their friendship and the ways it's grown over the past few years.
“I wrote ‘Happy New Year’ after a breakdown between us that lasted for a long period of time, to communicate to her how important she is to me and how our bond and care for each other goes much deeper than this difficult time," Walton says of the track. "I used the setting of New Year as both an opportunity for reflection, looking back nostalgically through childhood memories that we shared, and to represent the beginning of a fresh chapter for us."
She continues, "I’d been struggling to come to terms with the fact that our relationship had changed, but as the song and time progresses I come to accept that it couldn’t stay the way it was when we were kids forever, and start to view it as a positive thing — because now we have been able to grow into our own individual selves.”
The changing nature of Walton and Hollingworth's friendship over the past three years serves as a major theme for their next album, exploring the ways each of them have fleshed out their own individual identities and tastes while still trying to find a creative middle ground together as one artistic entity.
With lyrics like "I said, ‘I don’t know how we do it/ And you said, 'Just think if we’d have been together / We’d be breaking up,'" Let's Eat Grandma perfectly dramatize this playful back and forth with a game of tennis full of bloody noses, velour tracksuits and champagne showers.
Given the timing and theme of their latest single, it felt fitting to catch up with Let's Eat Grandma and ask them about their New Year's Resolutions.
Rosa:
- Prepare for Wimbledon 2022
- Call my Grandma more
- Start untying my shoelaces before I take my shoes off
- Go to the dentist
- Continue with therapy
Jenny:
- Go out dancing as much as humanly possible
- Get dressed before midday
- Have at least one bubble bath in my swimsuit
- Stop losing my keys
- Go for a walk every single day
Photography: El Hartwick
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