Vancouver musician Alex See has written many songs connected to events or stories from her past. But for her Christmas love song, “stars & snow”, she just sat down at the piano and tried to compose something soft and sweet.
“A song just came out of that,” See tells Pancouver over Zoom. “That’s not to say that a story isn’t there!”
Her song certainly summons strong feelings. Lyrically, musically, and through a new official music video, “stars & snow” engulfs listeners with emotion.
It opens with See’s soaring vocals over an understated musical track.
“Maybe this Christmas you’ll be mine,” she sings wistfully. “I’ve dreamt of this a thousand times / Maybe this Christmas you’ll know / I’ve waited and waited and waited for love to grow.”
As the music builds and lyrical longing intensifies, “stars & snow” offers a tender message that Christmas isn’t only about gifts and candy canes. The holiday season is sometimes a reminder of unfulfilled love.
The video drives this sentiment home. Director Cedric Yu presents See standing alone on a snow-filled vista in a light blue holiday dress and white shawl.
According to See, she and her team aimed to create an ethereal piece that was gentle yet powerful while still feeling inviting.
Watch the official music video (above) for “stars & snow”.
The video was shot last February on Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver. Musician Scott Hsu created the snowflakes with the help of a snow machine.
“We were out in the snow for six hours,” See states. “A lot of it was just waiting for the wind to blow the snow in the correct direction, because you can imagine, sometimes he would shoot it out of the machine and it would blow right into his face.
“So he definitely had one of the harder jobs on this piece,” she quips.
See emphasizes that not a single element of the song or video was created with artificial intelligence.
“It felt concerning to me when people assumed it was AI because I had nurtured this work for four years,” she states. “I spent the time building a team. We spent days perfecting the music, not to mention standing on a mountain for six hours without a jacket.”
The song has actually been with her for a while.
“I actually wrote ‘stars & snow’ back in 2021,” See reveals. “I feel proud of myself for nurturing this work for so long.”
Alex See’s music is available on her YouTube channel. However, she has stopped putting her more recent music on Apple-owned iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify due to their corporate conduct. Follow Alex See on Instagram @alexseemusic. Learn more about her in this 2024 article in Pancouver.
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