This was a commissioned song, plus an ode to her granddad. Robin writes: 'I recorded Small Christmas Tree with Marien Dorleijn at his studio last month, but I actually wrote Small Christmas Tree a while ago, back in 2020.
I was asked to write a Christmas song by Into The Great Wide Open. It was December 2020, and earlier that month, my grandfather had been moved into a care home because his advancing Parkinson’s disease made it impossible for him to continue living at home with my grandmother. I was so sad for him, especially because, on top of him losing the life he knew, he had to stay in isolation from the other residents because of COVID. It was a very difficult and sad transition for him.
When I tried to write the commissioned Christmas song, all I could think about was how my grandfather was sitting there in his small room, alone in front of the TV, away from his home, his family, with only a tiny Christmas tree in his room for decoration.
And then I thought about how things used to be, and how much I missed those old days when we’d all be together around this time of year, celebrating the end of the year and the start of a new one. I felt incredibly nostalgic, and that feeling ended up in this song.
My grandfather passed away a couple of months later. The cover photo for Small Christmas Tree is a picture of him and me.'
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