Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph release Christmas single on this, the 11th day of October
Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph may have gotten lost in a Michael’s somewhere. Maybe they paid a visit to Frankenmuth, Michigan, and haven’t yet figured out how to leave. Maybe Gasteyer had her TV tuned to the Hallmark channel sometime in mid-September, and then the batteries in her remote died, and she doesn’t have any AAAs on hand, so it’s just stuck there. Maybe they’re just fucking with us. Whatever the reason, today, October 11, hath brought some holiday cheer from two singing Saturday Night Live alums in the form of a duet. It is delightful, and it is also still October 11.
The single, an original called “Secret Santa,” comes from Gasteyer’s forthcoming album Sugar & Booze, which is admittedly a pretty great name for a holiday album. Entertainment Weekly, which is streaming the song exclusively, calls the album “collection of festive seasonal songs, blending both old and new, to craft a nod to the vintage holidays of yore with a modern touch and heaps of style.”
As for the song itself, it’s a fun, “Rum And Coca Cola”-esque number that takes the form of a phone call between Rudolph and Gasteyer, the latter of whom has some news to share. She flew to Havana to buy a secret Santa gift for some jag, but a couple of glasses of rum and orange Fanta later, she’s got a different idea for the holidays.
Here’s some of what Gasteyer had to say about the album, in a statement to EW:
This album is a nod to the swing sound of the ’50s and ’60s but with a modern twist. It is festive, with a full-bodied sound, that I hope makes people feel joyful, jolly and gay. I love records from the late ’50s and early ’60s that never scrimped on sound. That’s hard to do in this day and age, but we sought arrangements that utilized a proper band, including horn and percussion and created as full and lush a sound. The holidays are also the one time of year we can let it rip, so we wanted to make a record that was festive, fun, and celebratory.
Sugar & Booze arrives October 25, which is still in October but is at least much closer to November. If you happen to live anywhere near Ridgefield, Connecticut, it looks like Gasteyer will be performing selections from the album at the Ridgefield Playhouse on December 18, a date that makes a ton more sense.