Lucy Dacus Celebrates Wham!’s “Last Christmas” on Latest 2019 Single

Halloween is over, and the season of Lucy Dacus’ “Last Christmas” has begun. The latest single from the acclaimed Richmond, Va., singer-songwriter’s forthcoming 2019 EP—a collection of holiday-themed singles, including a couple of covers—is her rendition of the well-known Christmas track by Wham!, out now via Matador Records ahead of 2019’s release next Friday, Nov. 8.

“I don’t really like Christmas,” says Dacus of her new single. “In the studio, we listened to the original of ‘Last Christmas’ and didn’t talk about an arrangement. I just told everyone to play it angry. This is what happened first take. It actually came out pretty fun, maybe a tad psychotic.”

Dacus added on Twitter, “[A]lso I’m pissed this had to come out so early, this in no way means the christmas season has begun, I am the grinch.” Granted, we’re as susceptible to holiday season whiplash as anyone else, but a rock ‘n’ roll Christmas song like this is worth celebrating early and often.

“Last Christmas” is the latest in a string of Dacus’ 2019 holiday tracks, following “La Vie En Rose” for Valentine’s Day, “My Mother & I” for (what else but) Mother’s Day, “Forever Half Mast” for July 4, “Dancing In The Dark for Bruce Springsteen’s birthday and “In The Air Tonight” for Halloween. Her 2019 EP will also feature an as-of-yet-unreleased tribute to New Year’s titled “Fool’s Gold”—we can expect that song to drop sometime ahead of the EP’s Nov. 8 release, according to another Dacus tweet.

Dacus recently performed another unreleased track titled “VBS” during an L.A. show alongside her boygenius bandmate Phoebe Bridgers, though it’s unclear when—or if—that track will be released. Her last album Historian was Paste’s pick for 2018’s top album.

Dacus’ North American headlining tour starts tonight (Nov. 1) in Englewood, Colo., spanning a dozen November and December dates before concluding with a three-night residency at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. 2020 brings a pair of Dacus festival sets in Florida—the 30A Songwriters Festival in South Walton Jan. 17-19 and the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival in (where else but) Okeechobee March 5-8—plus a performance alongside Ruston Kelly at Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium on March 6.

Below, listen to “Last Christmas,” along with Dacus’ 2016 Daytrotter session (and a bonus Wham! performance from the Paste archives), and see her upcoming tour dates. You can preorder 2019 right here ahead of its release next week.

Lucy Dacus Tour Dates:

November
01 – Englewood, Colo. @ Gothic Theatre
04 – St Louis, Mo. @ Delmar Hall
05 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Woodward Theatre
06 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ Covenant Fine Arts Center
17 – Mexico City, Mexico @ Festival Corona Capital
30 – Charlottesville, Va. @ Jefferson Theater

December
04 – Boston, Mass. @ Royale
05 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
07 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
29 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s
30 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s
31 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s

January 2020
17-19 – South Walton, Fla. @ 30A Songwriters Festival

March 2020
05-08 – Okeechobee, Fla. @ Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival
06 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Ryman Auditorium