There are so many songs that I’ve been meaning to write about – had this one in the drafts for 2 years! You should see my email or my text messages… even worse.
Philly’s The Bret Tobias Set, led by the titular Bret Tobias (ex The Bigger Lovers), recorded this lovely version of Everything But the Girl’s “25th December,” lending a jangling, more dense orchestration to contrast with the more sparse original. A very nice change of pace indeed.
Bottom Line: A great cover of an indie-Christmas classic.
The Glasgow School of Art Buy:Video (free!) | Soundcloud (stream)
I do love some synth pop Christmas music. I also love the band Veronica Falls (I miss them!). Smash those two loves together, and you get Patience’s “Fire Baby,” the soundtrack to The Glasgow School of Art’s 2017 holiday video. Patience (aka Roxanne Clifford from Veronica Falls – duh!) does not appear to have released this song in any other fashion than as this music video (Edit – also on Soundcloud). Thankfully, the video is downloadable, and you could strip out the music rather easily should you be so inclined. Give it a listen!
Bottom Line: Some Christmas synths to warm your ears to.
When a song begins with jingle bells, and is released on Christmas Eve… that shit is a Christmas song. So file “Satan is on the Way” in your Christmas folder, folks. I don’t make the rules (I do), I only follow them (I don’t). Boston Cream hasn’t dug deep with these lyrics, “Oh! / Satan is on the way! / Ooo, / It’s hot,” but what they lack in eloquence, they make up for in ROCK. Turn it up, shout the lyrics, and screw with your friends when this comes on as the leadoff to your weirdo Christmas mix. \m/
Bottom Line: Just a little Christmas fun with SatanSanta Satan.
Pentire are a bunch of guys from a small town (Herefordshire, England) who “make pop songs for the post-jangle generation through the smiles and sweat of the mosh pit.” A fun turn of phrase indeed, which makes my next sentence sound bland as hell. Here’s a nice slice of indie pop/rock that, inexplicably, I can only find on Soundcloud. Enjoy my nearly flavorless introduction and press play. You’re likely to enjoy this one.
EDIT: Well I’ll be… it is a cover and I hadn’t realized it. This is a cover of Tellison, which can be found on their Bandcamp. And… I did have that song already and just plum forgot. Thanks Randy!
I swear I’ll get my Christmas music mojo flowing soon.
Bottom Line: Pentire are indeed Christmas music fans – keep an eye on them. They are who I discovered Devon from…
Just as he was finishing up some work with his band The Black Angels, lead vocalist Alex Maas released a very interesting, downtempo holiday song, “X MAAS (Take Me Away).” I’ve been listening to it for a little while now, and I’m quite intrigued by the vibe of the song – his voice, the chiming melody, the lyrics that seesaw between fleeing and love. These elements mix and create a complex, disorienting, yet somehow soothing vibe. It sounds like Alex achieved his goal: “I’ve never written a Christmas song. Christmas has a very dark side that not many people take into account. The holidays are as painful as they are beautiful for most people. This song is for people who fall in love during Christmas and for those who want to escape completely from the holiday.”
Bottom Line: There’s something here. Not quite sure yet… but I’m listening…
It’s quickly coming up on November — that time when we all start to expect new songs to drop. There have been a few here and there, sneaking onto records (like the excellent Sister Ray track), but these October days are often full of old songs newly discovered. So, let’s flash back to 2021 — which feels like both yesterday and forever ago.
Devon hails from Gloucestershire, England, and back in 2021 he dropped a very COVID-era Christmas single, “Staying Home…” While you can certainly feel those days coming through in this song, the roots haven’t quite anchored it in time, never to leave. This is a song about mental health, compassion, and all those feelings of love and loss that get mixed up and spun around at Christmas.
This isn’t just a COVID Christmas song. Multiple listens, folks — it’s a grower.
Bottom Line: It’s sad, happy, thoughtful, loving, quiet, loud… and worth your time.
Half the fun—and the struggle—of having a hobby and a website like this silly one is the search. I love and hate it equally. Still, the rush of finding a great song is real—you know the feeling. I hate to admit I can often judge a book by its cover, but… years of experience suggest I usually can. So when someone defies my inner bias, well, I find that delightful.
Which brings me to New York–based singer-songwriter Remy Bond, whose image is a mix of Sabrina Carpenter and Paris Hilton, sent back in time with Lana Del Rey to hang out with the Ronettes. Remy’s been a child actress and a child reality TV chef (no joke), but over the past few years, she’s been steadily working in the NYC music scene—eventually signing with Warner Records in February of this year.
So far, that bio and the major-label connection don’t exactly scream Christmas Underground material, do they? Well, screw that—I don’t have enough readers to maintain an image anyway!
Remy dropped a Spectoresque Christmas single last December, “Christmas in Kokomo,” that’s damn enjoyable—though complicated by the fact that it’s impossible to buy and hard to stream. Spotify? Nope. Apple Music? Nope. YouTube? Yes. SoundCloud? Yup. Super weird that this genuinely great single is, by all accounts, “unreleased,” though I suspect it’s primed to resurface this holiday season with a major label behind it.
Look at me! Covering the big leagues! We all know I’ll be back to writing about weird cocaine Christmases from New Zealand tomorrow….
Bottom Line: I’m pretty down with this retro futurism.
Canada man. I feel each year, one country runs up the score, and this year has me looking north. I keep tabs on Sister Ray, as I own her 2022 album, Communion, a beautiful and vivid breakup record with a fleeting mention of a Christmas tree on “Visions” (for you Christmas mixers with VERY lax rules).” Earlier this year, the musical project of Toronto’s Ella Coyes released a great new record, Believer. I absolutely add it to the listen pile, but when I see a track called “Christmas” on her new album, my ears are hers. I love her voice, and the orchestration with the droning bassoon baseline (that has to be a bassoon, either real or synthesized, right?). However, these lyrics are the star. Some lines made me smile, though the kind of smile I wasn’t quite sure of – a sort of feeling that the line might just be more cutting than you realize. There is a moment in every verse that both feels so loving and sorrowful at the same time, that I find myself spinning. I’ve been trying to sit with this song, figure it out on a deeper level before I write about it… but I got antsy. Maybe you all can help.
Snow’s light For a cynic you sure love Christmas time. I think I might believe in Jesus Christ At least til things cool down Carrying a New Testament around Like a knife Like a fence in the foreground Protecting my house
I played that song just to hear you sing along I love your voice The way it sounds with mine I keep your ribbons hanging from my ceiling I would celebrate anything Come into my house
In another life I’m dressed in white I’ve been your wife What a beautiful child, what a beautiful sound Your eyes, my mouth Coming in from our house Coming in from our house
Bottom Line: This is the kind of song that keeps you coming back.
Last year, Nashville-based Canadian singer/songwriter Al Nicol and fellow north-of-the-borderer, actress and singer Evelyne Brochu teamed up on “On Christmas,” a great slide guitar and brass-laced Christmas tune. Happily, I came upon this song because Al Nicol recently released a track with Hiss Golden Messenger on it – and this time of year, I click through on EVERYBODY. So here I am, standing in the kitchen, poking at my phone and listening to his excellent new single, “Only Hoping,” and my eyes widen. This song is likely to be good… and it was. A short love song, with church and too much wine. The orchestration is beautiful, the lyrics are original, and clocks in at about 2:30. Bullseye.
Bottom Line: Christmas 2024, and Al and Evelyne are singing a wonderful Christmas love song. Christmas 2025, and I hope I didn’t just send ICE to a young Canadian songwriter’s home.
It’s official – I’m excited. Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Communist Daughter has announced a follow-up to 2015’s Sing Sad Christmas EP, which featured (IMHO) the definitive version of The Boy Least Likely To’s “Blue Spruce Needles.” This band can take a song, filter it through their fingers, and make something truly special. They just teased us with the first song off their upcoming November release, Sing Sad Christmas Vol. 2, and it’s just what you’d think. Communist Daughter does not shy away from the darker sides of Christmas – so Aimee Mann’s “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas” is right smack in their wheelhouse. I love it when a band looks beyond the same 10 songs to cover – I am very on board and can’t wait for November.
Bottom Line: A dark and delicious tease for what promises to be a highlight of the season.
