Eliza and the Organix Go Emo with Their “Xmas In Hell” Single Premiere

With Halloween in the rearview mirror, the festive season is upon us. Here to kick things off is Eliza and the Organix. Today, the band unveil their new single, “Xmas In Hell.” It’s a song that highlights all of the fun and quirky elements that make Eliza and the Organix a real good time.

The song has a retro-punk feel to it and draws attention to the eccentric sense of humour of band leader Eliza Waldman. Deep grooves, quirkiness, and punk rock-level delivery are what you get from Eliza and her bandmates, as well as a shameless approach to what they do. It’s rock n’ roll, it’s supposed to be out there, and that’s a winning formula for this ensemble.

Discussing the song’s origins, Waldman tells us:

“I wrote ‘Xmas In Hell’ back in 2017, and at the time it seemed so off-the-wall that I shelved it. For some context, Stranger Things was big at the time, and having just gone through a bad breakup, I was inspired by the idea of picturing my ex as a Demogorgon-like creature shedding his skin and scurrying back to hell. This was something that was both amusing and cathartic for me at the time.

“Musically, it also evolved into an eerie ’80s sound that matched the Stranger Things vision I had in my head. I was always hesitant about releasing it, but I heard the Blink-182 Christmas song ‘Not Another Christmas Song’ on the radio recently (pre-Halloween because Christmas starts in August technically, right?) and I was reminded that Christmas songs can be emo and over the top, and I decided to go ahead and release this one this year. ”

On the recording process, she adds:

“It was honestly so much fun recording this song and really leaning into the campiness of the whole thing. More and more layers kept getting added in, like the joke of it being an ‘Ex-mas’ song really instead of an ‘Xmas song’ and a lot of whisper vocal inserts where I was channeling some Linkin Park (thinking of ‘Numb’ in particular). Everything you hear on this song is me with the exception of the drums, which were tracked by Jonathan Vergara at Pancake Studios. He also did the mix and master, and he did a great job! The rest, guitars, vocals, bass, all the synths and MIDI bits on there are all me noodling around.”

Eliza and the Organix “Xmas In Hell” single artwork, by Ella Sanandaji

Eliza and the Organix started as a college rock act back in 2011. A bunch of kids in the jazz program at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York decided to start a band. It has obviously evolved a lot in sound and presentation since then. But that youthful rock spirit has remained the same. Eliza specialized in classical guitar and aside from the band, runs a school rock band program on the Upper East Side neighbourhood of Manhattan. She also recently did a solo tour with her friend Mars Ray which she hopes to use as a springboard for more of a live presence.

Discussing her songwriting and hopes for the near future, Eliza shares with us:

“I’m really proud of how this one turned out! I’m planning on releasing a lot more new music soon, and hopefully this is just the start of that. I’ve got a backlog of about a million songs, and I’m eager to get more new music out there, since my last release is from 2020. A lot of the new music will have more of the traditional cast of characters from my band on them, the whole Eliza and the Organix crew. I hope people enjoy the epicness of this song and can dig into A Very Emo Christmas vibe.”