(via Shutterstock)
There’s so much Christmas music released each year, and while it’s a joy to a Christmas-a-holic like me, it can get challenging to get to it all, let along let yourself festively soak in it.
So, I’ve picked four of the tracks that really struck a chord with me, plus a newly-discovered gem from 2019, and I hope that by showcasing them you will realise just how much great Christmas music is out there.
If you want to really take a deep dive into this year’s offerings, head to the brilliant Spotify playlist put together by Christmas Spirit News on Bluesky and soak up all the festive musical goodness but for now, take in these five Christmassy gems and let yourself get lost in the most wonderful time of the eyar.
“Sweet December” (feat. Kelly Clarkson) by Brett Eldredge
(courtesy Spotify)
An American country music singer who released his debut single back in 2010 (“Raymond”), Brett Eldredge has the voice and presence to make a Christmas single really sound like the real deal. But he’s also sensible enough to know that it’s never a bad idea to have another talented singer join you for some festive music-making. So, with the release of Merry Christmas (Welcome to the Family), this year’s festive album, his eighth overall, Eldredge has recruited Kelly Clarkson for “Sweet December”, a song that has two lovers looking forward to being together come the big day on the 25th. It’s delightful, it’s romantic and it adds to the singer’s reputation as “Mr. Christmas”, with his new album hoping to become a classic all its own.
After I finished the Glow Tour last year, I immediately dove into writing an album full of original Christmas songs that will hopefully become classics in your hearts and minds. We recorded this album trying to encapsulate the classic Christmas sounds I’ve always loved and put my own soulful and jazz-like spin on it. (Taste of Country)
“Holly Jolly Christmas” by Canaan Cox
(courtesy Apple Music)
His website hails Canaan Cox as a triple threat – he’s a singer, actor and dancer – and certainly when it comes to his festive single, “Holly Jolly Christmas”, it becomes clear that he has the singing side of things down pat, and if the clip is anything to go by, the acting side of things too. His rendition of the 1964-penned song, “Holly Jolly Christmas”, written by Johnny Marks and most notably performed by the great Burl Ives, is playful, emotive and buoyantly upbeat, capturing the spirit of the season quite perfectly.
Christmas songs are always so fun to do as you can take them in so many ways during production. We really tried to make each few measures, their own little landscape to keep the listener engaged but also, for fun. (KGET.com)
“Christmas Valentine” by Ingrid Michaelson & Jason Mraz
(courtesy Jason Mraz)
A pre-pandemic slice of delightful festive pop, “Christmas Valentine” takes a happy deep dive into the almost inevitable romance of the season. It comes courtesy of American singers Jason Mraz and Ingrid Michaelson, longtime friends and former tour partners, who together have fashioned a beautiful ode to the romantic hopes and possibilities of Christmas. The song is all hushed happy harmonies and whimsical beats mixed in with some sweet hopefulness and romantic truth – “Baby, just be mine / A kinda, sorta Christmas Valentine /You’re making every day with you and I / Feel like a very merry February – and it works so beautifully as one of those festive songs that make you feel all the warmth and bliss of Christmas.
‘Jason and I toured together years ago, and I got to know his kind spirit’, Michaelson tells Billboard. ‘He really embodies what the season is all about. We were both on the road and had to record our parts separately but when we finally got in the same room for the photo shoot, that incredible spirit was shining all around him! The only regret I have about this song is that we didn’t collaborate sooner.’
Adds Mraz, ‘Ingrid is the sweetest. I’m very flattered she thought of me and I’m thrilled to be associated. I love holiday music and I believe what Ingrid has created has the goods to become a new holiday classic.’
“Let it Snow” (feat. Veronica Swift) by Jeff Goldblum & the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra
(courtesy Spotify)
Is there nothing that the suave, amazing human-sized piece of talented, hugely likeable goodness that is Jeff Goldblum can’t do? It seems not if his take on “Let it Snow”, officially known as “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” and written in July 1945 by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne, is any guide. His take on the classic is performed with his five-piece Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (bandleader John Storie on guitar, Alex Frank on stand-up bass, Joe Bagg on organ, Kenny Elliott (who has toured with Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, The Impressions) on drums and Scott Gilman on saxophone; details courtesy The Show Report), and American jazz singer Veronica Swift, is relaxed jazz gem that makes you feel as loved up and joyful as Christmas should do. It’s a giddy, happy joy that will make your heart song and slap an endlessly festive grin your face.
‘I’m a die hard Swiftie now’, Jeff says. ‘No, not just the incredible Taylor, but Veronica Swift as well. She harkens back to the jazz greats like Ella, Sarah, and Anita with her flawless scatting and swingin’ masterful musicality. I think my band executed to the highest degree the cool and clever arrangements by Joe Bagg and Alex Frank to make two new and exciting takes on holiday classics.’ (Essentially Pop)
“Sleigh Ride” by Alice Merton
(courtesy Apple Music
Born in Germany but now based in the UK, Alice Merton made an almost immediate name for herself with her 2016 debut single, “No Roots” which she followed dup in 2017 with an EP of the same name. Fast forward to this year, and Merton has released her take on the classic festive song, “Sleigh Ride”, a light orchestra standard composed by Leroy Anderson between 1946 and 1948 when it was first performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fiedler. The song was released as part of a commissioned series by Apple Music and it her trademark emotiveness and melancholic thoughtfulness which reinvents it absolutely beautifully, It’s a chilled piece of festive rumination that soothes the soul while stoking the fire of seasonal bliss that the track invokes.
‘Is it ever too early to listen to a Christmas song !? (Just say no) Thank you so much @applemusic for inviting me to do a cover of one of my favourite Christmas songs! It was such a joy recording this in the most non-christmassy part of the year. Hope you can get into the Christmas spirit with my version of ‘Sleigh Ride’.’ (Facebook)
Recorded in a single take, live directly to vinyl, at Abbey Road’s legendary Studio Two, here are three songs to get the Christmas spirit a-sparkling … (courtesy YouTube)