Sultans of String Premiere "Himalayan Sleigh Ride"

The Canadian string band has released "Christmas Caravan," and My Spilt Milk is pleased to give you a first look at the song and winter.

The Christmas music business doesn’t wait for Halloween, much less Thanksgiving. Gwen Stefani, Cheap Trick, Hanson, and Lindsey Stirling have already released their Christmas albums, Stirling’s including a guest spot from Trombone Shorty. It seems premature, but history shows that the right release can do more business in the last three months of the year than many do with much larger windows. My Spilt Milk will hold its Christmas coverage until Black Friday, but for those who love Christmas music, we have the Twelve Songs of Christmas on Facebook where we keep track of new releases, reviews and Christmas news.

One of our favorites of the early releases is the Sultans of String’s Christmas Caravan, and today we’re pleased to premiere their video for “Himalayan Sleigh Ride.” The Toronto-based world folk group makes Christmas sound simultaneously exotic and familiar as it folds a number of different styles and stringed instruments into their takes on Christmas classics. Their “Turkish Greensleeves” includes a guest appearance by the Turkish String Collective, and on “Himalayan Sleigh Ride,” they’re joined by sitar player Anwar Khurshid. 

The video for “Himalayan Sleigh Ride” features the band members in Canada’s most celebrated winter sports playground, Banff, Alberta. The footage doesn’t say Christmas as much as winter, but for those of us who rarely see snow, much less mountains covered in the stuff, it’s a beautiful sight.