98 newyork| november25–december8, 2019
touchmethatway,’ orwhatever. You know
whatI mean?”Alexis, she confesses, was
harder toplay. “It was really hard to
detach,notbecauseI didn’t want to—I did
becauseit washardfor me—but because
it justleft suchanimprint on my heart,”
shesays.“Ithinkbecause I really went
thereforher,andI brought personal
energyintoit.”
Whenwefirst sat down for tea, which-
ever’90sR&BSpotify playlisttheCrosby
hadselectedlandedon“ToZion,” Lauryn
Hill’s songfromMiseducationabouther
decisiontohaveherson,“It”-girlstatusbe
damned.Demiesaysshelistenedtoit
whenshewasfilmingthatWavesscene,as
shereflectedonAlexis’srefusaltogo along
withherboyfriend’s wishes.“I’mnottell-
inganyone,‘Haveyourbaby;don’t abort.’
Shewasinthisemotionalrollercoasterof
a relationship butchosetostandher
groundforwhatshebelievedin,” shesays.
Demie was raised by a young single
mother.“My dadwasn’t around,soshe
wasn’t gonnahaveany help,andshe’s
expressedthistomemany times,whichis
whythat songwasimportantformeinthis
film...Shetoldmethemomentshechose
tokeepme;it wasonherway toabort.”
Demieseesa healerinL.A., too,and
theyworkonherrelationshipwithher
mom.Attimes,theyhavebeenmorelike
sistersthanmotheranddaughter, their
connectionfraughtinwaysshedoesn’t
specify. They’reworkingtogetherona
biopicabouthermom’s life,andtheproj-
ect hasgivenDemietheopportunitytosee
hermotherwithclearereyes.“Thisisa
womanwhostruggleda lotasa childand
withidentityandhadmereallyyoung,” she
says,furrowingherbrowandmakinga
caseagainstherownteenage disquietude.
“A s I gotolder, I startedtobea bitmore
forgiving,butI thinkwhenyou’reyoung,
right,you’rejust like,you’resoangry. I’m
notlike,‘I can’t standyou!,’ anymore.You
knowwhatI mean?I understandwhere
she’s comingfrom.”
Earlierthisyear,reviewsoutoftheTel-
lurideFilmFestivalcrownedWavesA24’s
latest masterpiece.(CriticsinToronto
werea littlelesseffusivebutwarmedto
themovienonetheless.) Demie’s mom
hasn’t seenit yet, buttheactressis hoping
fora visceralresponse.“She’s definitely
excitedandproudofme,” Demiesays.
“Shealwayssays,‘You’rea great actress,
you’rea great actress,’butsometimesyou
justwannasee a reaction.”Shetakes
anothersipofteaandsmiles.
“I’mjust reallyexcitedtohavehersee
meina greatfilm,”sheadds,“ ’causeI
thinkit’ s a great film.She’s gonnaat least
cry, right?” ■
whenarianagranderecentlytweetedoutreferencestoherlittle-
known 2015 EPChristmas&Chill,whichdetailsthespecificwaysin
whichChristmassexuallyarousesher, therecordquicklyskyrocketedto
theiTunescharts.It eventuallysurpassedevenThankU,Nextashercur-
rentmost-streamedalbum,bringingjoytothesinger,whoclaimsit was
her“favproject.”Allowustowalkyouthroughthissurrealsix-songcom-
pendium,soyoutoocanmakeyourholidays 700 percentmorelibidinous.Remembering
Ariana Grande’s Merry, Horny
Christmas Record“Intro”
➽Christmas&Chill
beginswithGrandewel-
comingherlisteners“to
Christmas”—which,she
helpfullyexplains,“only
comesonetimea year”—
thensharesthatshewill
bespendingsaidholiday
“singing,‘Oh,oh,oh,oh.’”
Thisis theleast explicit
songonthealbum,soif
you’realreadyfeeling
uncomfortableaboutthe
conflationofChristand
carnality, nowis thetime
towalkaway.“WitIt This
Christmas”
➽TheUr-textof
Grande’s insatiable
Christmaslust, thistrack
beginssubtlyenoughbut
thenlurchesquitesud-
denlyintofull-onYule-
tideerotica.“Areyou
downforsomeofthese
milkandcookies?,”
croonsGrande.“Down
forloving,you’llbemy
drummerboy/ AndI’m
theonlydrumthatyou
gonnaplay.”Thesong
continuestostretch
Christmasmetaphors
andpervert holiday tra-
ditions:Grandesaysshe
andherdrummerboy
don’t needpresentsor
“recipes”because,asshe
putsit,“Y ouknowI’m
tasty like a candycaneor
gingerbread/ I’mmade
withlove.”“December”
➽Grandefurther
expoundsuponthe ways
sheandherunnamed
partner(Santa?)will use
Christmasasanaphrodi-
siac.“WhenDecember
comes[Ed.note:
“comes”!] / I betyou want
towrapmeallupand
takemehomewith
you/ SeewhatI look like
underthemlights / We’ ll
keepit quiet, whatever
wedo.”Shethenclarifies
herintentions,which are
quiteselflessandrather
inlinewiththeseason
itself:“I’mjust tryna
keepmy babywarm
throughthewinter-
time/ I’mjust tryna give
yousomethingto
rememberthrough the
summertime/ And what-
everis onyourlist, I’ll do
it.”Grandecontinues
withwhatis perhaps her
mostcreativeand least
inherentlylogicalmeta-
phor:“I’llgiveyou the
fireI keepinside/ Guide
youallthewaydown, be
yournight-light.”“NotJuston
Christmas”
➽Atthispoint,you’re
likelywondering,Does
ArianaGrande,radical
Christmasfetishist, have
sexwhenitisn’tChrist-
mas?Thisnextsong
answersthatthoroughly.
“365days/I’llgiveyou
allmypresents,boy /I’m for you, not just
on Christmas.”“True Love”
➽ This is widely believed
to be about Ricky Alvarez,
Grande’s onetime
backup-dancer boyfriend
who now seems to work
as a photographer on her
tour (I don’t have time to
talk about this right now).
“True Love” is perhaps the
least sex-forward song on
thealbumandinstead
focuses on how, as the
days of Christmas pass,
Grande becomes more
and more certain that her
lover is a “real one.” But
please, do not get it
twisted. There is still
Christmas boning to be
had here: “On the fourth,
we committed / Any time,
he could get it.”“Winter Things”
➽ This final track is my
personal favorite. It’s lit-
erally a song about winter
things: skating, building
snowmen, wearing hats.
It’s also the only one, to
my knowledge, in which
Grande appears to admit
she’s from Florida. But
she refuses to let the sear-
ing Florida sun get in the
way of her Christmas tra-
ditions. “My baby’s in
town, and we’re gonna do
some winter things,” she
declares, defiant in the
face of climate change.The CULTURE PAGES
by rachel handler