LISTEN: The Academic Release A Cover Of “Lonely This Christmas”
LISTEN: The Academic Release A Cover Of “Lonely This Christmas”
Plus get all the details on their upcoming Live Stream event on December 1st
Words by: Amanda Marano
We could all use a little Christmas spirit this year, right? The Academic are ringing in the holiday early with their cover of Mud’s 1975 holiday single “Lonely This Christmas” — very fitting. With a sound that is both nostalgic and wholesome, it fills you with that bittersweet feeling that creeps in with the cold. They manage to preserve the iconicity of the original track, but still add their own modern twist to it through their signature vocals and the ache in their voices. The group also announced details of a virtual show, live-streamed from Mullingar, Ireland’s The Jealous Wall on December 1.
The Jealous Wall will provide a special, atmospheric setting for the band’s first live performance since the release of their most recent EP, Acting My Age. Behind the views of a castle ruin lies a story of love, sorrow and farce that is almost but not quite Shakespearean.
Vocalist Craig Fitzgerald explains, “It’s been a really tough year for everybody in our industry. All we have known for the past couple of years is getting in a van or a bus or getting on a plane to play a show somewhere, and to have that massive void now it really does start to hit home how much we love what we do. When we talked about the idea of performing a live show with no audience and in the context of streaming, we knew we had to make it something unique and special so when the idea to play at The Jealous Wall came up we were really excited by it. It also gives us an opportunity to get a lot of people back to work including our crew who have been hit harder than most this year.”
Hailing from near Mullingar in the Irish midlands, The Academic has been playing together since school, combining lighthearted beats and melodic riffs to create their unique sound — electro indie meets power pop meets alternative rock. After making waves with a number one album and sold-out shows around the UK (even being hand-selected by Mick Jagger to open for The Rolling Stones in Dublin!), their early success gained them spots touring with The Rolling Stones, The Kooks, and Noel Gallagher and led to slots in huge festivals around the world, as well as a series of sold-out shows across Ireland, the UK, and other parts of Europe.
The Academic began 2020 with the release of their EP Acting My Age — a bright, dynamic, and melody-heavy collection of guitar-shaped indie rock songs. Despite the pandemic putting typical concerts on pause, the The Academic are gearing up for continued success and touring when the world opens up once again.
