"Peppermint Winter" is a song by American
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
project
Owl City. The song was released on November 22, 2010, as a Christmas single.
Meaning
Adam Young of Owl City wrote on
Last.fm that it is about his "...own participation in snowball fights and sidewalk shoveling. Sleigh rides, present-giving and receiving and of course, the ingestion of marvelous Yuletide nutrition (or lack thereof), namely sugar cookies, hot chocolate and peppermint candy canes..."
Composition
"Peppermint Winter" is a light, waltz-like song that incorporates synth beats and vocals. The beat is mainly formed by jingle bells and occasional heavy drums. Piano is often featured, as well as some orchestrations, such as wooden string instruments and woodwinds. The track runs at 154
BPM and is in the key of
C major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
. Adam's range in the song spans from the notes C4 to A5.
Critical reception
"Peppermint Winter" received positive reviews from music critics. Becky Bain of the ''
Idolator
An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry.
Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books
*''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music
* Idolator (website), an American music blog
* ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
'' stated, "the saccharine love song to snowballs and sleigh rides gives us the same feeling we get when we eat too many candy canes in one sitting." The ''
Napster
Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...
'' blog gave the song a positive review, writing that the song "is cut from the same cloth" as his previous song "
Fireflies" and calling the song "light and sugary like the candy canes on a Christmas tree". The review continues stating that while the song "might not become a classic like "
Christmas Wrapping" from ''
The Waitresses''", "who can really say no to just one more Christmas song?"
Athena Serrano of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
called the track an, "electropop holiday bop filled with the magic and whimsical spirit of the festive season," praising the song for its, "mystical synths."
Charts
Release history
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2010 songs
Owl City songs
American Christmas songs
Synth-pop ballads
Universal Republic Records singles
2010 singles
Songs written by Adam Young
2010s ballads