Audiogram – Christmas Underground

November 18, 2025

Elliot Maginot “Holy” (2025)

a dead on photo of Elliot Maginot's face, with Holy and his name written above it.

Audiogram
Buy: Bandcamp

There are some assumptions that one can simply assume. One of these assumptions is that I’m going to write about Elliot Maginot when he releases his yearly Christmas song. There is no mistaking a Maginot Christmas tune – it’s going to be lush, it’s going to be emotional, it’s going to feel both extremely present but of another time. Elliot’s 2025 release, “Holy,” is yet another wonderful addition to this top-tier Christmas talent. Elliot absolutely loves Christmas, as he notes in his introduction on Facebook: “This might not be THE Holy night, but HOLY, my new Christmas ditty is out at midnight. I keep writing these Christmas songs year after year, cause this shit really matters to me. Christmas doesn’t solve anything and it doesn’t miraculously make us better humans but it seems to be the only time of the year when are collectively giving a shot at kindness and togetherness so let’s take this shit seriously yah? Love you guys merry christmas”

That mix of hopefulness and reality Elliot expresses above, well, that is the essence of the song. This is best displayed as the song enters its last verse:

And I know you did not come here for a lesson
But sometimes I wonder if you’re even here at all
But come on don’t you know tis the season
The most wonderful season of all

I’m not waiting on no miracle
The bells will ring/the snow will fall
But It’s gotten talking about it
If you want a life you gotta live it now

I don’t believe no angels would ever come this way
But I don’t have an answer
Especially not today
No sacred book gonna sway me
I may be lost but I’m not crazy
Now I’m not quite sure what else to do
Well very merry christmas to you

Really great stuff, once again. Oddly, this is the first time I’ve ever listened to Elliot and felt a connection to Conor Oberst. Though “Holy’s” orchestration feels quite outside of Conor Oberst’s wheelhouse, there is a quality to their voices, an emotion that comes through, that I can’t believe I haven’t heard before…

Bottom Line: Another fantastic, unmistakably Elliot Maginot Christmas song.

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November 10, 2023November 13, 2023

Elliot Maginot “Marie-Noël” (2023)

Montréal’s Elliot Maginot was one of my favorite finds of 2022, despite the fact he had been recording wonderful Christmas songs since those halcyon, pre-COVID days of 2019. Sometimes it takes a little bit for me to find these folks… but I’ve found Elliot, and now he is stuck with me. 2023 brings Elliot’s first French-language Christmas release, the beautiful “Marie-Noël,” originally released by Bobby Charlebois. I’m sure it is no surprise that I don’t speak French, as I am an American, and we traditionally expect the world to speak English with us. But boy do I wish I did – I’d be going to the Tour de France in a heartbeat. (Fun fact, that is my sport of choice.) Wow, it is really taking me a long time to get to talking about this song. Lots of detours and pointless banter. Did you know it is raining today?

I ran “Marie-Noël” through Google translate, and I do think that some of the beauty & flow is lost in translation. The things that don’t need translation are pretty damn wonderful. Those woodwinds – so warm and inviting. Elliot’s delivery – so present and emotional. Elliot Maginot has an incredible ability to perform these ornate pop Christmas songs that feel so clean and polished… and somehow breathes real life into them. In other hands, these songs might feel too clean, perhaps surgically sweet. Thankfully, this is not the case, and Elliot’s added yet another beauty to his Christmas catalog.

Bottom Line: I’m here for the woodwinds. Change my mind.

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November 11, 2022

Elliot Maginot “Christmas On My Mind” (2022)

Audiogram
Buy: Bandcamp

I bet you thought I’d keep posting French-language songs… so here’s the latest from Montréal, the English-language romantic with the French last name, Elliot Maginot. This singer-songwriter has been writing original Christmas songs for a few years now, each one with a different tone, but always with crisp pop production and big emotions. Elliot’s journey begins with 2018’s “Christmas Ain’t Enough,” with its familiar rhythms and retro feel, as well as some unexpected, beautiful lyrical moments. Take a listen below.

2019’s “I’ll Know My Savior (Christmas All Around),” takes the previous year’s retro pop production and turns the knob to the 1980s, with a shimmering, romantic 1980s pallet. I’m talking precise synths, a saxophone solo or two, big vocals, and even the 80s staple, chimes – the whole deal. It can feel a bit over-the-top, and it is wonderfully so.

Elliot’s 2020 release, “The Ballad of Mrs. Claus,” also has those 80s chimes and sax solos, yet somehow feels the most contemporary of his earlier tracks. The concept of the song – Mrs. Claus singing to Santa, worrying over him and this whole enterprise – is a concept that could easily have been made into a joke, but it is treated with such thoughtfulness that it is easy to forget that it is about Santa Claus.

After a year hiatus, Elliot returns once more with the beautiful “Christmas on My Mind.” This is his most lush production yet, as his voice turns into a choir singing out over a string section, and perhaps a soprano saxophone or two. However, it is the lyrics that steal the show. That first verse is a thing of beauty:

I never claimed to be a modern man/guess it just wasn’t in my bones
I know I used to be so stubborn then/just wandering like a rolling stone
Between my endless need for love/And everything I thought I knew
I should have known it wouldn’t really feel like Christmas without you.

In each of these songs, Elliot proves to have a wonderful, direct pipeline into some deep, emotional worlds… he must have a wonderful therapist. Please give me the number.

Honestly, there was something about Elliot’s aesthetic that initially made me suspect him and the pop sensibilities he gravitates toward. This is very much not a pop Christmas blog. But there is always something a little askew with him… like in “I’ll Know my Savior,” when he goes pop, he leans in so hard that you start to imagine how big and fantastic it might sound on stage in your local venue. He drove right through my suspicions and busted out the other side. It has truly been a journey listening to these songs by Elliot Maginot.

Bottom Line: These songs feel devotional, without being specifically religious – very much the qualities I enjoy in a Sufjan Stevens Christmas song, just with vastly different production. Somewhat of a revelation, I’m 100% on board with Elliot’s unique, emotional Christmas catalog.