"Snow Globe" is the fifteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on November 11, 2013, in the United Kingdom and on November 12, 2013, in North America. The album is themed around holiday music, featuring classic Christmas carols alongside original tracks written by band members Vince Clarke and Andy Bell. It was produced by their longtime collaborator Gareth Jones.
The band deliberately chose a "stripped-down" and "eerie" feel for many of the tracks, including traditional Christmas ballads like "Silent Night" and "White Christmas." Clarke explained that they wanted to explore the darker side of Christmas, noting, "Everything about Christmas has been written already. We thought it would be more interesting to look into the darker side of the season. For a lot of people, Christmas is not a happy time." This darker tone is evident in songs like "Blood on the Snow," which begins with a staccato-style waltz, and "Silver Bells," which features an android-like orchestra and dark imagery of coal, ash, and blood, culminating in a bright star and three gifts.
The album spawned two singles: the first was "Gaudete," released on October 28, a dance floor version of the 16th-century medieval Latin carol that was also popularized by Steeleye Span in 1973. The second single, "Make it Wonderful," is a more jubilant track.
The deluxe edition of Snow Globe includes a second CD with an acoustic cover of the 1980s Christmas pop hit "Stop the Cavalry" by Jona Lewie, a spoken version of the traditional editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," as well as several other acoustic versions and remixes.
While Snow Globe did not perform strongly on the mainstream charts, it did briefly appear in the lower reaches of the album charts, peaking at number 49 in the UK and number 100 in Germany. However, it fared better on the indie charts, reaching number 5 in the UK and number 30 in the US.
