With Christmas just around the corner, ‘tis officially the season of falling snow, mulled wine, and getting cosy with your significant other in front of a fireplace; if you’re lucky enough to spend the festivities in the company of someone special, that is.

Well, if that’s not the case just yet, worry not. Alexander 23 is celebrating things differently this year with a rather anti-Christmas anthem for the heartbroken. Earlier this week, the Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter unveiled a sombre duet with Laufey, a new star on the horizon known for her modern pop-slash-jazz sound.

“I bought you a present but you'll never get it / 'Cause me and you said our goodbyes this December,” Laufey opens the track with a deeply confessional first verse. Though soft in vocal delivery, her lyricism depicts a really sad departure from a former relationship — something that Alexander 23 has accurately portrayed within his previous releases, too. “So please turn off Mariah, I'm not in the mood / 'Cause all I want for Christmas wants nothin' to do with me now,” Alexander 23 adds in the second verse.

It’s clear that Laufey and Alexander 23 are both familiar with heartache, which is further proven by their candid portrayal of the painful solitude when someone you used to love spends the coldest months of the year within the warmth of someone else’s embrace; all while you’re finding a way to cope with that on your own.

This heart-wrenching is elevated by the undeniable sincerity of the artists that form it. It feels as if two momentarily lost souls have found each other to navigate the loneliness of Christmas — and everyone else is invited to join them on such an emotional journey.