Martin Nievera’s latest song entitled “A Brand New Christmas” was inspired by two words that we’ve all grown accustomed to hearing these days: new normal.

“That’s the inspiration behind the whole song because everything now is dictating us, and rightfully so, to comply with the new normal, all these new rules, socially distant apart and everyone’s asking, what would Christmas be like?” said Martin rhetorically.

“A Brand New Christmas” marks a couple of firsts for the OPM icon. This is his first single under Vicor Records after rejoining the storied label. The song also finds Martin reunited with his long-time friend and collaborator Louie Ocampo. Their first after a long while.

“It really feels good,” said Ocampo on his creative reunion with Nievera.

The composer said that their song “came really quick for the both of us. Basically when he asked me to write the song, I could hear him already,” referring to their rapport. “It helps when you know who you’re writing the song for or who’s your co-writer. It’s very natural.”

He went on to share that the song came about after he got a call from the singer.

Martin had Ocampo in mind right away. “Do you have something there, a tune, a melody? Because I have this idea about a Christmas song,” Martin said, adding “(because) I’m oozing with lyrics.”

Sure enough, Ocampo had one ready and immediately sent Martin a draft with him singing a melody on top. “I sent that to Martin right away.” A couple of exchanges of files from their smartphones later, the two had the framework for a new Christmas anthem.

For his part, Martin said “I had this rough draft from Louie and I sang over that demo of his and sent it back to him. And just like that we had a new song.” They recorded the song two days later.

“The best thing about it was it was so spontaneous. It was magic,” Ocampo exclaimed. A sparse, piano-strewn ballad, “A Brand New Christmas” was intentionally done that way. “The lyrics of Martin’s deserve (much of) the attention. Because the storytelling is excellent,” declared the ace-pianist.

Focusing on hope, one of the key lines on the song goes, ‘a happy Christmas through unhappy days / you can’t stop Christmas no matter what people say.’

It’s also the first Christmas song to use the oft-used phrase ‘new normal’ in the lyrics: ‘A brand new normal is what they say / a brand new Christmas / Can’t take this away.” To this Martin said, “I actually hate those two words, I was ok with the ‘other normal,” he jokingly said, before adding “(but) those were the two words that inspired me to write this song.”

The two finished the track as the country reeled from the recent typhoons and the ongoing pandemic. But both insist there’s a positivity about it.

Ocampo added that “the truth is we all want to be positive about the whole thing, but at the back of our minds it’s difficult, but still we want to be positive anyway. So that’s what made this song special.”

Martin concurs, “we Filipinos have that resilient spirit that you can never put down. It takes more than a storm, or even a pandemic, to take away the Christmas spirit.”

He goes on to praise a valuable Pinoy trait. “We’re so good at turning a calamity into a celebration of life and of survival. And it’s because of this resiliency that Filipinos are born with, that the Christmas spirit is not going to disappear from this country.”