Montreal’s NOELLY Lives Up To Her Name By Releasing Her First Christmas Song
- Eric Alper
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
Montréal-based Noëlly Nsimba celebrates her birthday early this year with the release of “Christmas Just Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You.” The singer-songwriter and former tennis pro was born on December 26, aka “Boxing Day,” just thirty minutes after midnight, compelling her mom and dad to name her as they did. As a result, and because of her abiding faith, Christmas has long held a special place in her heart, so it was quite natural for her to record a song of the season. “Christmas Just Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You” is now available on all streaming services and is offered to radio programmers in North America and beyond for airplay consideration. Produced by Rox Capriotti (Shape of Water, Vivaldi Metal Project, Morpheus Project) in Manchester (UK), the backing track was sent to Noëlly, who recorded her vocal part at her home studio in Montréal.
Noëlly had previously been on the Women’s Pro Tennis Tour, a pursuit that saw her compete in tournaments around the world as well as in her native Canada. The daughter of immigrants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, she pursued her tennis career while becoming an accomplished singer and songwriter. While “Christmas Just Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You” was written by Chris Maule, she worked with Capriotti to, as she puts it, “Make it me,” adding, “I love Christmas; it’s my favorite holiday so I’m very happy about this recording.” During the holidays, Montreal is noted for its many Christmas markets, celebrations and snowfall, further inspiring Noëlly. “This is my favorite time of year when we go to church and enjoy exchanging gifts with family and friends, so I had thought about doing a Christmas song and this one is perfect for me. I’m excited to see Christmas through Zyon’s eyes now that he’d old enough to take it all in but even as a tiny infant I could see how delighted he was with his eyes following the lights on the tree. This year is going to be even better now that we have such a great song to play.”
Concurrent with the release of “Christmas Just Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You” comes “True Love,” an original song written by Noëlly to mark a very emotional time in her life. The song was created when André Lukombo, her favorite uncle and her dad’s youngest brother passed away early in life from pancreatic cancer. “I was in England when I wrote it to express what my Aunt Gisele was going through and to give voice to these strong feelings. When she heard it, I could sense the emotion in her voice and realized the song had touched her as my uncle’s passing did me.” “True Love,” as with “Christmas Just Wouldn’t be Christmas Without You” is now available on all streaming platforms.
Noëlly and her beloved Uncle André
Last July, Noëlly seamlessly transitioned from her earlier career as a ranked tennis pro to music when she performed “O Canada,” to kick off the 2025 Canadian Women’s Open. Her version of Canada’s national anthem, as well as a song she wrote about the sport she loves, “4 De Love Tennis,” were released simultaneously, setting the template for this week’s offering of “Christmas Just Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You” and “True Love.”
“Christmas Just Wouldn’t Be Christmas Without You”
“True Love”
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