Canadian singer-songwriter Tim Baker (former frontman for indie darlings Hey, Rosetta) has announced a new Christmas album and subsequent tour to follow. Baker hits the road in his native Canada throughout November and December with special guest Villages. The debut single from the album is “It’s Tonight” a song Baker self-identifies as one of the best love songs he has ever written.

In regards to the album Baker wrote a detailed but introspective post about the album’s release, while it’s a bit lengthy, it’s worth reading:

“I made a Christmas album. It took several winters. I’m not sure everyone will understand. But it’s warm and fun and different and I love it and it’s coming out this fall and it’s called Full Rainbow of Light.

I guess I’m a holiday guy. I like these markers of time. I like looking into the bright mirror of New Years each year to see what’s changed, what’s the same, what might be coming. For me, late December is so full of feeling, of nostalgia and, here in Newfoundland especially, full of parties.

Maybe more than elsewhere, due to the decades of consistent out-migration for work or school or opportunity, Christmas can be such a time of long-awaited reunion and collective joy. In the old Hey Rosetta! days, our holiday shows were always our biggest, I think because of all the people who came home from away. It became a tradition and it must be twenty years straight now I’ve done shows around Christmas – the vibes are too good not to.

And so it is with late December in general here, whether you celebrate or not (or note the environmental impacts, the over-consumption, or the quaint lip-service to meaningful poverty reduction of it or not) you can still be picked up by the shared sheer energy of it.

In part, it’s the pull of all these large feelings (combined with quite a bit of free time sitting at my piano) that led to my writing so many Christmas songs and creating the record. I wanted to make it a sort of window onto my own holidays here, authentic as I could (family cameos, Guinchard fiddle, drunken choirs and all) and as fully as i could – to share both the long dark nights, and all the little coloured lights we string up against them.”

The album drops Nov. 17 and is available as a CD, vinyl and on all digital streaming platforms.

Baker’s tour dates are below:
Nov. 28 – Bonavista, NL Garrick Theatre
Nov. 29 – Twillingate, NL Saint Peter’s Anglican Church
Nov. 30 – Corner Brook, NL Arts + Culture Centre
Dec. 2 – Sydney, NS St. Patrick’s Museum
Dec. 4 – Moncton, NB Tide + Boar
Dec. 5 – Halifax, NS Light House Arts Centre
Dec. 6 – Wolfville, NS Festival Theatre
Dec. 7 – Fredericton, NB Fredericton Farmers’ Market
Dec. 10 – Ottawa, ON Branson Centre Theatre
Dec. 11 – Kingston, ON Kingston Grand Theatre
Dec. 12 – Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
Dec. 14 – Hamilton, ON The Music Hall
Dec. 15 – London, ON London Music Hall
Dec. 20 – St. John’s, NL Arts + Culture Centre