Originally from Guangzhou in China, but now in the USA – Gabriella Lin dropped this EP in December 2025 called “The Christmas I Know”.
The EP has an offering of five tracks, all of which are under 3 minutes, so a short but sweet offering – but I was intrigued, purely I didn’t know to expect festive music or not, but we shall see…
The first track is called “Return Policy” which is potentially a nod to unwanted gifts – when it kicked in, it felt very upbeat, very poppy, bouncy almost and it barely felt like a Christmas song, until I heard some references in the lyrics – but you know what, I liked that.
A lot of Christmas songs (whilst appropriately festive and fun) are quite big and in your face, especially when you hear them 24/7 from late October in the shops – but “Return Policy” has a subtleness to it that makes you feel a bit warm and fuzzy and doesn’t really feel too big or bold – it’s nicely done.
“Biscuit and Tea” follows and this sounds a bit more Christmassy, with a bit of twinklyness (it’s a word ok) and singing of Christmas Wishes and Christmas Eve, again, it is more subtle and Gabriella’s vocals are stunning in this, they really take centre-stage and use the instrumental beautifully to elevate her more – I can’t fault it – this is the sort of thing I’d lean more towards to across the festive time of year – it’s the perfect length too – probably my favourite on the EP.
“Santa Also Did It” is next and this feels more slow and sombre, which suits Gabriella’s voice well – the backing vocals in it are fantastic and really bring this up to a different level, they’re very noticeable but also doesn’t steal the spotlight, it just really ties it all together nicely – it does also get more upbeat because of this, so a slow burner despite a short track, but a nice one at that.
The penultimate track of the EP is “Where I Wanna Be” – this is much more festive-esque again, and straight in with the christmas-related lyrics – very upbeat but also very easy to listen to, I’d much rather they be injecting this into the shopping centre soundtracks each year to break it all up – but unfortunately, I don’t make the rules.
It’s a very fun track and one that could be on this years Christmas playlist for sure.
And finally, it’s the title track of the EP – “The Christmas I Know” and this track seems to have a mix of all the previous 4 tracks together, soft vocals, injections of fun and pop, gorgeous backing vocals and a sprinkling of twinkle – but still in a more sombre feel – this one feels more emotional and what sounds like this gorgeous violin tune striking through the instrumental – it’s a very mixed bag, but in the best way possible – it’s easy to see why this has been chosen as the title track and the final one for that.
Ultimately, a unique and different approach to Christmas tracks, Gabriella really seems to have put her own twist on the genre and gone against the grain but I welcome it – more of this later in the year please!
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