Come December, everyone is bound to hear the seasonal staples, from Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” to Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” and, of course, reigning queen of year-end festivities Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
But if you’re looking to enjoy newer additions to the holiday music canon, look no further.
Many singers are eager to dabble in sleigh bells, stocking-stuffer puns, and Yuletide cheer — and surely the annual streaming boost for holiday favorites is a compelling factor.
Our 15 favorite modern Christmas songs are listed below, in chronological order of release.
“8 Days of Christmas” by Destiny’s Child
“8 Days of Christmas” was released as the lead single from Destiny’s Child’s 2001 holiday album of the same name. The R&B hit was cowritten by Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Errol McCalla Jr. and interpolates the traditional carol “The 12 Days of Christmas.”
“Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber
“Mistletoe” was released as the lead single from Justin Bieber’s 2011 Christmas album, “Under the Mistletoe” — a time when many young Beliebers dreamed of kissing him beneath the seasonal sprig. The song was certified 3x platinum by the RIAA in 2021, nearly a decade after its release.
“Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande has described her 2015 EP “Christmas & Chill” as her “favorite body of work,” but she originally dipped her toe into holiday tunes with 2013’s little-known collection “Christmas Kisses.”
“Santa Tell Me” was included with the special edition of “Christmas Kisses,” released exclusively in Japan in 2014 before the song was released worldwide.
“Santa Tell Me” later received radio promotion and a music video, which has accumulated over 300 million views to date. Earlier this year, it rose to a new peak of No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Glittery” by Kacey Musgraves featuring Troye Sivan
Kacey Musgraves and Troye Sivan performed “Glittery” as a duet during her 2019 variety special, “The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show,” which aired on Amazon Prime.
Musgraves cowrote the gentle ballad with Daniel Tashian, who also cowrote the majority of tracks on her Grammy-winning album “Golden Hour.”
“We wrote ‘Glittery’ really quickly. It had this easy groove to it, and I thought conga drums would be perfect on it and kind of give it a Marvin Gaye type treatment,” Musgraves told i-D magazine. “It’s a sweet little song. And then Troye Sivan joined me during the special for it. I think the imagery in that scene might be my favorite. I just want to eat it.”
“Two Queens in a King Sized Bed” by girl in red
Girl in red, aka Marie Ulven, is renowned for writing intimate indie-pop songs about sapphic love. As the title suggests, her 2020 holiday single “Two Queens in a King Sized Bed” fits nicely within that tradition.
“It’s about the beauty of Christmas and being young and not having too much stuff and just wanting to be together and cuddle and never leave bed,” Ulven told The Line of Best Fit.
On the song’s subtly festive production, she explained, “I feel like that’s the new Christmas vibe, it’s the Gen Z Christmas vibe.”
“Another Year” by FINNEAS
FINNEAS — better known as Billie Eilish’s producer and brother, Finneas O’Connell — released “Another Year” as a single in 2020, in the thick of COVID-19 isolation.
Written and produced by O’Connell alone, the song serves as a reminder that quality time with loved ones is precious, yet never promised.
“Here we are tonight, drunk by the firelight / The future could be bright though no one’s sure about it,” he sings in the second verse. “And if the ending’s sad, at least these times we’ve had / The good outweighs the bad, you wouldn’t know without it.”
“I wrote this song this time last year but if I had known what would happen in the following 12 months, I wouldn’t have changed a line,” O’Connell explained on Instagram. “Hope it gives you a little comfort.”
“‘Tis the Damn Season” by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s “‘Tis the Damn Season,” while not strictly a holiday carol like her 2019 single “Christmas Tree Farm,” should still be considered one of the great December anthems.
Released as the fourth track on “Evermore,” the second of Swift’s 2020 sister albums, “‘Tis the Damn Season” captures the specific yet universal experience of returning to your hometown for the holidays and getting swept up in the nostalgia.
“Home to You (This Christmas)” by Sigrid
“Home to You (This Christmas)” is a festive spin on Sigrid’s own single “Home to You,” an ode to connection and belonging that was recorded for the Amazon movie “The Aeronauts.”
“‘Home To You’ has always had a Christmas spirit since we wrote it,” the Norwegian singer said in a press release. “It’s about my hometown and the house I grew up in with my family. I always go back for Christmas, so it felt natural to make a Christmas version. I hope it’ll give some cozy vibes when it’s getting darker outside.”
“So Much Wine” by Phoebe Bridgers
From 2017 through 2022, Phoebe Bridgers would release annual Christmas covers and donate the proceeds to charity.
The 2022 installment in the series, Bridgers’ take on the Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine,” is the perfect wintery blend of peaceful and melancholic.
Bridgers assembled a star team to reimagine “So Much Wine,” including her go-to producers, Tony Burg and Ethan Gruska. The song even features backing vocals from Bridgers’ then-fiancé, Paul Mescal.
“Snow in LA” by PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus
“Snow in LA” is a more somber take on the holiday music tradition. The duet between PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus, who also share writing credits, is a “dark Christmas song for what feels like a pretty dark time,” the duo said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“It’s reminiscent of traditional Christmas carols (with all their reverence and hope) but contrasted by images of catastrophic climate change and looming fascism that represent so many of our fears for the future,” they said.
“Last Christmas” by Remi Wolf
Remi Wolf took on a bonafide pop classic by Wham! with her signature zeal. Her cover of “Last Christmas” was released in 2022 as one in a set, paired with the ’30s ballad “Winter Wonderland.”
“Silver Second” by quinnie
Quinnie, aka Quinn Barnitt, became a breakout indie-pop star in 2022 when her song “Touch Tank” went viral on TikTok. Later that year, she released “Silver Second” as a tender tribute to her family members, depicting them as huddled together in the winter months.
“In part, I wrote it knowing that my grandmother wasn’t doing so well, and hoped to express the importance of being uber present, especially during the holiday season,” quinnie wrote on Instagram.
“A Nonsense Christmas” by Sabrina Carpenter
“A Nonsense Christmas” was originally released in 2022, capitalizing on the viral popularity of Sabrina Carpenter’s ad-libbed “Nonsense” outros during her Emails I Can’t Send Tour.
Carpenter’s self-described “Christ-smash” later became the core of her Netflix holiday special, as well as the highlight of her 2023 EP “Fruitcake” — but don’t neglect the rest of the tracklist, which is stuffed with festive pop gems like “Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do,” “Buy Me Presents,” and “Is it New Years Yet?”
“DJ Play a Christmas Song” by Cher
“DJ Play a Christmas Song” was released as the lead single from Cher’s 2023 album “Christmas.” It became her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in over two decades, since “Song For The Lonely” in 2002.
This year, she released three new duet versions with Kelly Clarkson, Giovanni Zarrella, and Belinda.
“Better Than Snow” by Norah Jones and Laufey
“Better Than Snow” was released in 2023 in a two-song pack called “Christmas With You,” paired with a cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
The duet between Norah Jones and Laufey, who share writing and production credits, juxtaposes the season’s cold weather with the warmth of romance and intimacy.
“It’s more a national holiday than a religious one,” Laufey told The Boston Globe of her upbringing in Iceland. “It’s the one time of year we can romanticize the terrible snowy weather.”
The post The 15 best modern Christmas songs to add to your holiday playlist appeared first on Business Insider.
