Amanda Shires Announces New Holiday Album For Christmas For November 2021 Release, Shares Moody New Video For “Gone For Christmas”

Singer-songwriter Amanda Shires has announced the release of her forthcoming holiday album For Christmas, which is due out November 12. Alongside the announcement, she has also shared the first single from the album titled “Gone For Christmas.”

For Christmas will be released via Silver Knife/Thirty Tigers and is currently available for pre-order. The album pre-order is offered in a variety of bundles that range from $12 to $172. Merchandise for the album such as shirts, hats, mugs, ornaments and more are also available for pre-order.

Shires has also set up a SantaManda Christmas Hotline, which can be reached at 1-833-FOR-XMAS. The hotline allows fans to hear a pre-recorded greeting from Shires, which features her encouraging listeners to vent their feelings about the holidays. Shires encourages fans to be honest, even if it includes any negative holiday feelings.

“Gone For Christmas,” which features gospel quartet The McCrary Sisters, heavily focuses on unordinary holiday wishes. Shires sings, “I want a date with Larry David/ I want Costa Rica or the Caymans/ I want you gone for Christmas.” The lyrics are quite the opposite of what a traditional Christmas song focuses on.

“‘Gone For Christmas’ is truth. You’re going to ask for things for Christmas, so what do you really want? I liked the idea of the outlandish mixed with how you actually feel. We actually feel like, ‘Oh my, I’m so tired of all this shit, and I want a different scene.’ But maybe you don’t want really that, but you just want to say extreme things. I was thinking of the ultimate Christmas list, and then at the end, I was thinking about how most of the items on it were impossible,” said Shires in a press release.

The music video for “Gone For Christmas” perfectly showcases the entire meaning behind the track. Shires is shown with her abstract Christmas list, which includes the desire to own a private plane as well as a radio station.

Shires recently teamed up with Brandi Carlile and Margo Price to cover John Prime’s iconic “I Remember Everything.” Their rendition was performed at the 2021 Americana Honors and Awards, which took place in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on September 22.