VIA PRESS RELEASE | Ed Hamell, aka Hamell On Trial, delivers an early Christmas gift to the world with his new 13-track album Dirty Xmas. Having previously recorded for a variety of labels, including Mercury, Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, and New West, Hamell has made a string of singles, EPs, and albums for San Antonio-based Saustex Records.
This new, succinct volume has everything his fans have come to expect: ribald humor, heartbreak, and social and political commentary that’s tempered with a unique brand of humanity.
The musical palette ranges from novelty, anti-folk, and indie pop, with dashes of poetry and beats. With producer Matt Labozza he has crafted an album that is a mixture of holiday-themed and more everyday sorts of tunes that’s punctuated with humor and heartbreak.
You have new naughty holiday standards like “Xmas Carol,” “Rudy,” and “Dirty Xmas” rubbing up against more personal tunes like “Dream,” and contains perhaps his greatest achievement yet as a songwriter, “Adele.”
It’s being released digitally and on 180 gram crimson vinyl in a strictly limited edition of 110 and packaged with an Hamell original painting that can be displayed on your wall OR affixed to the cover (along the lines of his early 2025 release Harp (For Harry) and has a special message for all ye faithful listeners etched in the runout bands.
Pre-orders have begun shipping. Purchase includes the full digital download immediately, and the album is now available on all major streaming platforms.
