Holiday wishes don’t stop when childhood ends. Maybe adults aren’t quite as eager to unwrap a gleaming present as children are, but they’ve got powerful desires, too. Take Linda “Peaches” Tavani, for instance. The beloved R&B singer has seen her own dreams come true: she’s topped charts, snagged Grammy nominations, and stolen the hearts of countless listeners. As half of the acclaimed duo Peaches and Herb, she’s had all of the worldly success any singer could ever hope to attain. She’s done making Christmas lists for herself. Now, she’s making a Christmas list for you.
“My Grown Up Christmas List,” her new holiday single, is a powerful plea for help for an ailing world. Healing, unity, human understanding, an end to conflict and suffering, and the speedy arrival of a time of peace: these are the gifts the singer is searching for. She’s not alone. In a time as challenging as December 2021, material impulses can seem trivial. It’s fair to say that millions of people, old and young, are praying for a Christmas miracle. Linda “Peaches” Tavani has given those hopes a voice.
And what a voice it is. Peaches’s singing is rich, sonorous, effortlessly empathetic, profoundly communicative, and capable of communicating excitement and longing in the same measure. This is the woman who gave us “Reunited,” an immortal anthem of reconciliation, the party-starter “Shake Your Groove Thang,” and presided – in spirit, at least – over countless marriages with the adamantine “I Pledge My Love.” On her own, she’s turned her attention to devotional songs and made manifest the gospel roots of all of the music she’s ever recorded. “My Grown Up Christmas List” sounds like a standard for the ages, but the singer’s performance anchors it firmly to the spiritual tradition. That’s fitting for a Christmas song that doubles as an entreaty for divine assistance.
The video for “My Grown Up Christmas List” shows both sides of Linda “Peaches” Tavani: the charismatic star and the spiritual searcher. The singer appears under the stage lights, dressed in glamorous gowns, signing autographs, and spreading cheer to her fans around the globe. Yet we also see Peaches hard at work in the studio, squeezing out every drop of soul from her melody. This is the Linda “Peaches” Tavani who wears sweatshirts with inspirational messages and who wears the pain – and the hope – of her listeners on her endlessly expressive face. If you’ve ever wondered why her music connects as profoundly as it does, the reason is present in every frame.
