Today is December 2. That means there are only 23 days left until that big year-end holiday where a large, bearded man is encouraged to come into homes with the intent of trading milk and cookies for personalized gifts. Seems like a fair trade.
Maybe you haven't gotten around to putting up that tree, or maybe you don't want to be bothered with the festivities. Like it or not, the commercialized religious holiday to shame all other over-commercialized holidays is getting that much closer, and maybe you're tired of hearing Mariah Carey's usual plea. In that case, we've compiled some of the newest and most original takes on holiday jams that have been released by artists including The Linda Lindas, Tkay Maidza, Christian Lee Hutson, Laufey, Titus Andronicus, and many more.
Hear all 25 new holiday tunes below.
Future Islands, "Last Christmas" (Wham! cover)
We're starting with a classic cover of a classic Christmas song. Wham!'s "Last Christmas" will immediately take me out of my Grinch state, making me want to go for a pensive walk in the snow and stare at twinkling lights with a heavy heart. Future Islands paint the infectious holiday hit in a psychedelic hue, adding staccato keyboards and neon synths.
Tkay Maidza, "Nights in December"
I would probably listen to this blissful trip-hop tune even if it wasn't December. Maidza details a New York holiday spirit with nods to iceskating in Central Park and rendezvousing around the big city. Blaring synths and tinkering percussion push Maidza's satiny vocals to the front, while jingle bells subtly ring in the background. It's a cozy, romantic soundtrack for when the temperature drops below zero and you look to good company and energy to warm the soul.
Christian Lee Hutson, "Silent Night"
This is not the "Silent Night" that you're probably thinking of—no round yon virgin here. Rather, Hutson rewrote the classic tune from a modern lens—waiting in line at the grocery store, chance of snowstorms, drunk bar regulars, gathering family members new and old. “Some of my favorite songs are Christmas songs but they’re often about Jesus being born or old men riding on donkeys to give presents to a baby king,” Hutson said. “Lyrically, they’re all pretty scary and I imagine this baby holding humanity hostage. So, I wrote my own version of one of my favorites about spending Christmas in Ohio."
Hutson's gentile voice delivers these vivid scenes over subdued jingle bells, windy percussion, and a beaming guitar. Toward the end, fuzzy voice notes of children filled with holiday cheer weave their way in. As a whole, Hutson's reimagining of "Silent Night" is quite moving. Call me a sap, but tears began to peak behind my eyes when he softly repeats, "Making up for lost time" at the end. Light the fire, gather 'round, and grab the tissues.
David Byrne, "Fat Man's Comin'"
Further detailing our very weird holiday traditions, David Byrne shared an ode to "that funky man with the fur trimmed collar" to raise funds for his online publication Reasons to Be Cheerful. Support it on Bandcamp here.
Rosie Thomas feat. Sufjan Stevens, "We Should Be Together"
Rosie Thomas collaborated with holiday song connoisseur Sufjan Stevens for the sublime, bittersweet duet "We Should Be Together." If the title alone doesn't stir up some sadness, their gossamer vocals alongside delicately plucked guitar ought to. While Christmas is the happiest times of the year for some, it's also the saddest for others. Thomas and Stevens have captured that paradox beautifully here.
"Christmas can be a bittersweet time, and the world can feel hopeless and lonely fairly often, but there’s some kind of magic around Christmas that brings hope and togetherness, or at least that possibility, which I guess is hope," Thomas said. "Though this story is framed within a relationship, the larger themes and longings are more universal. We all need hope, and we need each other."
The Linda Lindas, "Groovy Xmas"
Cats! Friendship! New guitars! Cookie cake! What more could you want? The Linda Lindas deliver a joyous anthem that celebrates all the goodies that come around this time of year.
Lunar Vacation, A Living Room Christmas
I will say that even as someone who gets easily annoyed by the holidays, (I may not be the most qualified individual to write this list), I will never tire of the Vince Guaraldi Christmas album—a.k.a. the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas. I would listen to these god damn bops outside of the season. So, yes, I was excited to see that Lunar Vacation did a cover of "Skating." That effervescent piano is still there, but there's a bit more echo on the keys and the guitar bits are warped and funky—almost giving a SpongeBob theme song vibe. There's even some wistful, haunting backing vocals at a few points. It's great.
But that's not all Lunar Vacation has gifted us. They've also covered Norah Jones' "Christmas (Jolly Jones)" and—for the second time on this list—Whams!'s "Last Christmas." The three covers make a lovely, put-on-repeat EP. I do not take my Christmas tunes lightly, and so I do not say this lightly: Lunar Vacation nailed it.
Titus Andronicus, "Drummer Boy"
Have you ever connected the Billy Joel classic "Piano Man" with the holiday standard "Little Drummer Boy"? Neither have I. That all changed when Titus Andronicus dropped his holiday Frankensteinian mashup "Drummer Boy," which is not the "Drummer Boy" that Justin Bieber covered years ago with a feature from Busta Rhymes (yes, that happened). Instead, the new version by Patrick Stickles makes me want to go to my local pub, get a little sloshed, and scream this song at the top of my lungs with the lads.
"I first connected the dots between the great Billy Joel song and the beloved Christmas standard several years ago, but it got tossed onto the pile with so many of my other crazy ideas," Stickles explained. "Things being how they are, though, I may not have the luxury of time to execute all those crazy ideas, so when we had two days off in Montreal on our recent tour, we figured we’d grab the reindeer by the antlers and cross this one off the list, so as to avoid the pain of eternal regret."
He adds, "Also, I’ve noticed a lot of discourse recently about what constitutes a legitimate 'parody' lately, and I’d like to get a piece of that action."
Phoebe Bridgers, "So Much Wine" (Handsome Family cover)
Every year, Bridgers adds to her collection of holiday deep cut covers. This year was no different. Need to grab another box of tissues.
Eugene Mirman and Lucy Wainwright Roche, "How Do You Lie to Your Child About Santa"
After four years of "how do we talk to our kids about Trump" discourse it's nice to get back to that age-old ethical dilemma of lying to our children about a thing that is very obviously not true. More specifically, it's "a Christmas song about the dilemma of wanting to indulge your young child in the fun of Santa, but also wanting your child to believe you about reality and its complexities and heartbreaks," per the Bandcamp page for comedian Eugene Mirman's new label PGF Records.
Remi Wolf, "Last Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland"
Wolf delivers two characteristically colorful renditions of holiday classics: Wham!'s "Last Christmas"—making its third appearance on this list—and the standard "Winter Wonderland." "Get ready for the biggest gift I will ever give," Wolf teased on social media before sharing the tracks, both hyping the new songs and perhaps absolving herself of doubling down on holiday singles next year.
Chubby and The Gang, "Violent Night (A Christmas Tale)"
Punk music and Christmas aren't an obvious pair, but that doesn't mean they aren't a great one. The latest from West London punk group Chubby and The Gang is the new single "Violent Night (A Christmas Tale)." See the pun they did there? It's the first single of a two-track EP that will be out December 14.
"I wrote this Xmas song sitting in my van freezing cold waiting to start work during the holidays," frontman Charlie Manning-Walker explained. "Because I'm tired of hearing the same four songs on repeat over the season." Well said!
Dougie Poole "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Dougie Poole recently announced his forthcoming album The Rainbow Wheel of Death that's out next February. But his latest track isn't a new single, but a cover of the Christmas classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." For his cover, Poole keeps the performance simple, not changing much of the original composition but highlighting the bittersweetness of the beloved song.
Poole revealed that although he loved the Vince Guaraldi Christmas record, he never gave much thought to other commercial Christmas tunes. "My family did Christmas when I was a kid even though I am a Jew (my dad was raised Lutheran), but popular Christmas music—Saint Nick, milk and cookies, the sleigh bells, the militant spreading of cheer—it always maybe felt a little too gentile in a house full of Jews. I always half-wondered why there weren’t any killer Hannukah tunes out there and until sort of recently when I found out that like half of the American Christmas canon was written by Jewish songwriters hustling in the music industry. So, naturally, I started to warm up to it all a bit."
Molly Burch, "Cozy Christmas" and "December Baby"
If you're tired of Mariah Carey or any other classic romantic pop song with a holiday tinge, here are a couple fresh ones for you from Molly Burch. Burch's rich and buttery vocals with a hint of haziness are such a treat.
Stars, "Christmas Anyway"
The latest from indie mainstays Stars is more of a realistic take on the holidays than a rosy-cheeked celebration. "You always place yourself above me / No Christian charity will make you love me / Let’s drink another toast tonight / And hope that we can make it right / Let’s all pretend we can be friends," goes one verse. Kinda dark, right? But who hasn't experienced a holiday where no matter how hard you try, no matter how glittery the tinsel is, no matter how heady the eggnog is, you'll never love (or even like) the company that surrounds you. But even though we don't talk about it enough, the holidays are about resilience, and Stars highlight that fact with their blunt lyricism.
Also, all proceeds from the song will be split with the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, who provide Indigenous women and their children a safe and supportive environment. So go buy it and have a good cry!
gobbinjr, "xmas without you"
Another runny-nose banger—grab some more tissues and hit play on Emma Witmer's modern-Grinch take on getting stoned alone on Christmas.
Laufey, "The Christmas Waltz"
Many of the "classic" Christmas songs have an air of luxury to them—I always think of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, or Eartha Kitt all dolled up with a whiskey on the rocks in hand singing glamorously about these final days of the year. One could say they don't make 'em like they used to. Well, if you're saying that then you need to hear Laufey's latest single "The Christmas Waltz." Laufey's honeyed vocals are as warm as a yule log as the singer hones in on the romantic lushness of the holidays with one classy Christmas song.
We Are The Union, "Yr Always Alone (On Christmas)"
A misanthropic ska-punk holiday song? Check.
Kurt Vile, "Must Be Santa"
Kurt Vile's contribution to the most wonderful time of the year is a take on the holiday standard "Must Be Santa" which was made famous by Bob Dylan in 2009. Vile's version is not a take on Dylan's chaotic polka rendition, but he did want to continue to carry the Christmas torch for the decades-old track—or at least be the guy who attempted to pull it off. Vile's version is a minimal indie-pop take featuring his two daughters.
"I thought I’d do an acoustic version and have my daughters sing backup, but then it turned into more of a weird synth version with their vocals, which is really the hook," Vile explained. "I figured Bob wouldn’t hear it, but I still wanted to do it justice, and once I got my daughters singing with me I hoped he would at least like it. Now I know… he loves it. Merry Christmas, Bob Dylan!" Merry Christmas, Bob Dylan, indeed.
Alessia Cara, "Jingle Bell Rock"
Underrated pop star Alessia Cara brings us back to the time of mop-tops for her take on "Jingle Bell Rock." The cover begins light and whimsical as orchestral strings and dainty bells highlight Cara's slightly raspy, soulful vocals. Then, things get a bit funky when a robust drumbeat bursts in. It's giving modest family party getting rowdy after a few glasses. Everyone's enjoying themselves in their finest fits, but the volume continues to get a bit louder.
Los Bitchos, "Los Chrismos"
London-based group Los Bitchos has given us another Christmas instrumental to add to our playlists—think a less intense version of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Instead, the guitar riffs are more fluid and joyous. They've even shared a fun music video that transports us back to ski lodges in the '80s. "We couldn’t resist some Jane Fonda–inspired lycra and choreo cause why not, it’s Chrismos?!" they shared.
They've also given us the incredible chant: "Christmas time, sexy time." I will be saying this everyday. Sorry to no one.
