Lindsey Stirling announces 'Snow Waltz'

Press Release

Fri, Aug 26th 2022 06:00 pm

New Christmas LP out Oct. 7 via Concord Records

√ New festive single, ‘Ice Storm,’ out now

On Thursday, award-winning pop-violinist Lindsey Stirling announced her new Christmas album, “Snow Waltz.” It’s out digitally Oct. 7, and on vinyl Nov. 18, via Concord Records.

Featuring eight classic covers and five original tracks, “Snow Waltz” delivers Stirling’s immersive arrangements and mesmerizing melodies – but with a seasonal twist – featuring songs that promise to be the perfect soundtrack for the holiday season.

“I wanted to give the songs a whimsical, pixie-like feeling that’s quintessentially me,” Stirling said about the new record. “It’s always a challenge to put your own stamp on a classic song that’s been recorded hundreds of times, and I really loved experimenting with different approaches and making sure that every song felt completely unique to who I am as an artist.”

To accompany the announcement, Stirling shared the project's first single “Ice Storm.” An original guitar-fueled and wildly rousing instrumental, the song shines a new light on the multifaceted musician’s rock-leaning sensibilities. The “Ice Storm” video features a paper-cut-like collage of a pack of wolves chasing a young deer, running for its life to escape danger.

Listen to “Ice Storm” here: https://found.ee/LS_IceStorm

WATCH:

Preorder/presave “Snow Waltz” here: https://found.ee/LS_SnowWaltz

Recorded in Los Angeles with Gladius (longtime Grammy-nominated producer with credits including Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber) executive producing, “Snow Waltz” conjures a delightfully eerie mood, wholly embodying the limitless imagination at the heart of Stirling’s artistry. The album’s title came from thinking about the period of time between Halloween and Christmas where the two seasons overlap.

“I wanted to create something in the same world as ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ or the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, where there’s sort of a Christmas-y feeling alongside all the spookiness,” Lindsey explained.

And the song “Snow Waltz” is just that, rooted in her ineffably expressive violin work and graced with many cinematic details, including darkly sweeping percussion, lilting flute melodies, and bright and sprightly glockenspiel tones.

When it came to reinterpreting timeless holiday songs, Stirling tapped into her own boundless and unfettered ingenuity. On “Joy to the World,” she joined forces with Gladius and orchestrator Stephen Anderson to create a gloriously stomping, Celtic-inspired take on the 18th century Christmas carol. One of the album’s most left-of-center moments, the beat-heavy “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” showcases Stirling’s frenetic violin alongside her hypnotic, heavenly vocals and was produced with Mark Maxwell. For her flamenco-infused rendition of José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad,” she enlisted the guitar-playing talents of fellow multihyphenate Mark Ballas (a dancer/ choreographer/ musician/actor who served as her partner on the 25th season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”).

Although all of “Snow Waltz” bears a potent emotionality, songs like “Magic” ft. David Archuleta holds a particularly powerful significance for Stirling. One of several vocally driven original numbers on the album (along with “Crazy For Christmas” ft. Bonnie McKee and “Christmas Time With You” ft. Frawley), the bittersweet but uplifting ballad was sparked from a profound moment of Stirling's life, when her sisters and mom shared loving and fun memories around her father’s passing.

The follow-up to her debut holiday album “Warmer in the Winter” – which earned a No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Holiday Albums Chart, and No. 1 on Amazon and iTunes Holiday Album Charts – “Snow Waltz” emerges as a singular new entry in the holiday-music canon, once again proving Stirling’s extraordinary gift as an instrumental storyteller.

Lindsey started an annual drive, “The Upside Fund,” around each holiday season to help families in dire need of support during a medical crisis. She has partnered with medical companies including RIP Medical Debt, Resolve Medical Bills, and Dollar For to pay off over $4.5 million in medical debt and bills nationally.

Stay tuned for more information about this year’s drive and find more info here.

Lindsey Stirling (Image courtesy of Shore Fire Media)

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Since the release of her debut album in 2012, Stirling has established a successful career as an electronic music impresario, violinist, dancer and artist. She has humbly become one of the 21st century’s most innovative stars. Her groundbreaking vision has gained her millions of adoring fans worldwide, four Billboard chart-topping albums, and two Billboard Music Awards (including Top Dance/Electronic Album for her third studio release, “Brave Enough”).

Her holiday album, “Warmer in the Winter,” catapulted to the No. 1 spot on Billboard, Amazon and iTunes holiday album charts upon release. lead single “Carol of the Bells” made history as the only instrumental song ever to reach the Top 10 at AC Radio.

Stirling has amassed over 12.5 million subscribers, nearly 3 billion views on YouTube, 3 million followers on TikTok, and over 500,000 user-generated creations across TikTok and Instagram reels. In addition to this, Forbes placed her at No. 4 on its 2015 World’s Top-Earning YouTube Stars list.

Her fifth-studio album, “Artemis,” debuted at No. 1 on the dance/electronic album chart.

Stirling has performed for more than 800,000 people on her headline tours, and her co-headline tour with Evanescence was named one of Live Nation’s best-selling amphitheater tours of 2018.

For more on Lindsey Stirling: