It’s not quite Halloween, but the Jonas Brothers are already all set up for Christmas.
On “I Need You Christmas,” a loungy and longing new cut from Kevin, Joe, and Nick, it’s all about the power of the holiday and how it can lift anyone out of the doldrums of loneliness. It’s also about missing childhood and realizing that at the end of a long, tiring year full of coldness and isolation, maybe the one thing that might help is to gather around the tree. How nice.
Nick sings the first half, evoking scenes of “angels on treetops and angels in the snow,” pining for them amid feeling lonely and blue. By the time Joe takes over halfway through this “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”-type ode, he’s singing of carolers and mistletoes, all the things you need to specifically mention in order for your melody to count as a Christmas jam. That nostalgia is at the center of the song’s message, as the band revealed on social media.
“For us this song stirs up memories of childhood snowball fights & finding the nearest hill to sled,” the group’s Twitter stated ahead of the drop. “It brings us back to spending time with family setting up the Christmas tree. Hopefully it can bring you guys the same feelings of warmth & happiness that creating it brought us.”
The memories are aplenty on social media — Kevin, Joe, and Nick in front of the Christmas tree clutching plush animals and posing in a sleigh, the bro quad (Frankie included!) as adults rocking their best steely faces in front of a glimmering tree, and the entire extended family gathering at a twinkly round dining table. A cooked goose for everyone!
“With having such a crazy year, we all really need something to look forward to,” the group’s Twitter read. “The Holidays is a time that brings us together and is something that brings us joy in the darkest of times.”
The JoBros are far from the first pop stars to begin mining the yuletide cheer well before the season actually begins. Carly Rae Jepsen’s latest, “It’s Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries,” perhaps the most realistic representation of a December family gathering ever committed to tape, is out today (October 30), too. Carrie Underwood’s Christmas album My Gift dropped three days after September’s autumnal equinox, while Dolly Parton released her latest earlier this month.
And it gets better: Today sees at least four new holiday collections dropping: JoJo’s December Baby; Meghan Trainor’s A Very Trainor Christmas; A Tori Kelly Christmas from, yep, Tori Kelly; and It’s Christmas All Over, from the Goo Goo Dolls. There’s also, of course, the inevitable return of Mariah Carey — along with mystery guests “AG” and “JH” — as teased by her Christmas tree emoji tweet earlier in October.
Until then, though, you’ve got “I Need You Christmas” to keep you warm. Check out the rosy-cheeked goodness above.
