"Winter Breaking," Saintseneca (Anti)

Just found out about this Columbus, Ohio band the other day and this new 2019 midtempo holiday ballad they just released. Stereogum calls it "sad and festive," which is not a bad description; indie-rock bands do like to go for the mixed emotion aspect of the holiday. In tracking this down, I found I've been remiss; these guys had The Mallwalker EP in 2016 with five holiday tunes, including "All the Best," a power-poppy holiday missive from the road, "New Coats," a sprawling semi-psychedelic sonic collage, "Plastic Baby Jesus," a pensive electric guitar ballad, the midtempo "On Holiday," and the title track, a Lumineers-like traipse through a shopping center. And in 2017, they offered "The Wandering Star," a folky strum over a drum machine. Please note that proceeds from The Mallwalker benefit the charity Water For People.