Kate Nash Reveals New Single “Christmas Eve”, From New Album "Cailín"
Kate Nash releases new single “Christmas Eve” from her recently announced album Cailín, a love letter to her Irish heritage, due out 22nd January via iconic label Kill Rock Stars.
"Christmas Eve” is the album closer and sits more quietly than much of what comes before it. It’s one of the record’s most tender, introspective moments, telling the story of how Nash’s grandparents met in Dublin, and at its heart it’s a song about legacy.
Kate adds: "Christmas Eve depicts my Granny & Grandad meeting on O’Connell Street in Dublin on Christmas Eve. I didn’t ever get to meet him but I’m told I was very much like my Grandad and it’s so romantic to me that they met on Christmas Eve. It talks about the struggles he faced as a man with 2 children and not being able to get a job, he got the ferry over to Newcastle for work and moved his family when he had enough money. That’s why I was born and grew up in the UK. It’s an emigration story. Really the song is about legacy, family, romance, fate and what we can’t control. What’s it all for? Love is everything."
Looking back at their love story led Nash to ask bigger questions about her own life and work. “It’s this simple thing of, what is it all for? Why am I making records? What am I trying to leave behind?”
For Nash, part of the answer lies in speaking up. Whether it’s standing in solidarity with the trans community on last year’s single “GERM”, campaigning for fair pay for musicians or speaking out in support of sex workers, she makes a point of educating herself on the causes she believes in, then being vocal about them.
“I’m looking for meaning in my life: things that feel like they matter,” she says. “Apparently there’s a family motto of ours: I’m not looking for a fight, but if you’ve got one, I’m your man. Now feels like a good time to fight for the things you care about – that’s what I want to write about.”
The new single “Christmas Eve” follows the previously released singles “Freedom of Me”, a vital punk track that tackles the flagrant abuse of the term “freedom of speech”, and “Spilt Milk”, which takes a sideways look at the erosion of reproductive rights for women and minority groups.
Eleven years in the making, Kate Nash’s sixth studio album Cailín was produced by KoOoLkOjAk and recorded on the West Coast of Ireland at Stiúideo Cuan, under the watchful eye of pioneering trad musician Charlie Lennon. Cailín is a raw, raucous album combining traditional Irish sounds with punk energy, nods to hip hop production and Nash’s knack for a killer hook
Following performances at Other Voices Derry, Fleadh, All Together Now, Galway International Arts Festival and more, and in support of her forthcoming new album, Kate announced three intimate Irish shows in October which sold out immediately, further Irish dates have been confirmed for February. Kate is currently on tour in North America.
Kate Nash Dates
8 February - Cork - Cyprus Avenue
10 February - Limerick - Dolan’s
11 February - Galway - Róisín Dubh
13 February - Dublin - Button Factory
14 February - Belfast - Mandela Hall
Full Track List for ‘Cailín’
- I Guess I Never Learnt A Thing
- Cailín
- Freedom of Me
- Famine
- Spilt Milk
- Wild Atlantic Way
- Crying
- Irish Saints
- Póg Mo Thóin
- Lady Gregory
- Pay Up
- Christmas Eve
