One might assume that when a known quantity like Philly's Titus Andronicus offers up a single called "Drummer Boy" that it would be some sort of modern rock take on the classic carol. You'd be wrong. They've essentially rewritten the story from that song in a way that allows them to sing it to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man." It's a hoot, and will definitely stop conversations when it comes up in your playlist. From 2022.
November 2022 Archives
This song brings all the divas and drag queens out on stage to blast their huge production number version of the Eartha Kitt classic. Philadelphia's Sug Daniels flips the script inside out for 2022, accompanying herself only on ukulele (and some backing vocals) for this version. If you prefer the big production number, good on you, but this will stand out in your playlists even more. Another cool find on Bandcamp.
This Philadelphia singer-songwriter also had a holiday breakup for 2022, in this cute ballad about the flannel shirt she was going to give him for Christmas and now is wearing herself, "cuz it's final sale no returns." Stop by Bandcamp to check it out.
Rosie had a Christmas album back in 2008, and Sufjan, well, two five-disc box sets of Christmas tunes pretty much establishes his credentials in this realm. This 2022 ballad is mostly Rosie's joint, however, a sweet melancholy tune about finishing a Christmas sweater in fall for a guy who left her in the summer. It's on Bandcamp.
This was actually out last year but only for Spotify listeners. For 2022, it's generally available. It's a fairly faithful version of the much-loved Beatles song fragment, although to be truly faithful you'd have to cover the entire Christmas fan club recording it's a part of. Still, you don't have to be a Beatles fan, or necessarily a Spoon fan, to enjoy this as part of a playlist.
Everybody knows "Wicked Game," Chris's biggest hit that not only comes over supermarket sound systems but movie soundtracks as well as radio. He previously released a holiday album in 2004 but he's back again in 2022 with this one. For those not familiar, Chris came along as an Americana/rockabilly artist and if you remember that Sun Records, Chris's new label, is where we got Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash, then you know just what to expect here. Chris went the extra mile here, penning eight of the 13 tunes on this new album. The covers include a sauntering "Winter Wonderland," faithful takes on "Jingle Bell Rock," "Run Rudolph Run," and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and a big ballad version of "O Holy Night" closes the album. The originals favor gentle, countrified ballads like "Holiday Blues," "I Believe in Santa Claus," and "Wrapping Presents For Myself," but there's also the novelty "Dogs Love Christmas Too," the country polkas "Everybody Knows It's Christmas" and "Help Me Baby Jesus," the swingy "Christmas Comes But Once a Year," and the rockabilly tune that was tapped as the collection's single, "Almost Christmas." Worthwhile even if you already have his previous holiday albums. Just noticed while posting this that there's a live holiday album by Chris in his discography, too, with guest appearances by Brian McKnight, Michael Buble, and Stevie Nicks.
OK, so Lindsay hasn't had an easy go of it in recent years, until Netflix pulled her into the Christmas movie industrial complex with 2022's "Falling Into Christmas." And in a callback to her having sung this song in "Mean Girls," they resurrected it for her with a guest rap by Ali Tomineek. Don't know if the hip-hop turn was absolutely necessary, but it's definitely a things-that-make-you-go-hmm moment for your holiday playlists.
The most famous of the turn-of-the-millenium "boy bands" previously provided us with a couple holiday singles, 1999's "Christmas Time" and 2012's "It's Christmas Time Again," but this 2022 release is their first full holiday album. No surprises, it's got their modern R'nB sound with strong group harmonies; if they grew up in the 50s they'd have been a doo-wop group. Give them credit for the opening song, "White Christmas," in which they borrowed the Drifters' arrangement while dressing it up current millenium style. They also acquit themselves well with uptempo arrangements on "Winter Wonderland," "Last Christmas," and "This Christmas." They go downtempo on classics like "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," "O Holy Night," "Silent Night," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." An unexpected but well-done choice for this album was Dan Fogelberg's "Same Auld Lang Syne." The album closes with three holiday originals, "Christmas In New York," "Together," and "Happy Days." Feel free to graze this for your playlists, especially if you enjoy today's R'nB sound. I've linked to Amazon, as is the custom here, but there's a Target exclusive version that adds "It's Christmas Time Again"and a version of "Feliz Navidad" if you're a completist.
We've previously heard from Seattle Christian rockers Emery on a seven-song EP from 2015, songs from which also appeared on the Tooth & Nail Happy Christmas compilations. For 2022 they dropped this collection of five familiar holiday standards. The title song has a bit of a David Lynch feel to it, so you should check that out at the very least if you're looking for a unique take on it. They also do a mellow version of Charles Brown's "Please Come Home For Christmas." The rest is up to you; these American songbook classics, "It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" are rendered in their original old-school pop arrangements and, while well done, don't stick out in any meaningful way. Back in 2019 we noted they had offered a collection, Cocoa and Christmas, to their fan club, and it appears most, if not all, of these songs are from that offering. Run with the title song and leave the rest to the band's fans.
Nobody ever lost money retinseling Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" for a modern holiday, whether a straight dramatization of the original novella or an all-singing, all-dancing takeoff, whether animated or live action. Your friends at Apple TV+ went musical theatre for their 2022 version of the venerable story, featuring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer, and this album is the resulting soundtrack. As with any musical theatre production, the songs tend to be specific to the plot, but as anyone with any experience in the realm of popular music knows, the canon, holiday and otherwise, is filled to the brim with songs that originated on Broadway or in other musical theatre realms. The whole show is filled with fourth-wall-breaking snark, so feel free to let the "Glee" nerds in your immediate circle put this in your streaming queue and make notes as to which songs might fit your holiday playlists. "Bringin' Back Christmas" would pair nicely with your favorite Stan Freiberg tunes like "Green Christmas," and "That Christmas Morning Feeling" is mostly independent of the show's plot when heard in isolation. "The View From Here" is a nice ballad, though it's a little specific to the show, and "Do a Little Good" starts out like Oasis' "Wonderwall" and is generally nice, though a minor expletive near the beginning might spoil it for some. As it's a new production (of an old story), this will probably be a worthwhile diversion this year, certainly more so than yet another sequel to "A Christmas Story."
This French synth-pop-rock band is probably best known for their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. For 2022 they dropped this tune as part of their latest album Alpha Zulu, and though it's not strictly a holiday tune, it fits nicely with the recent trend of "winter" albums we've noted here for some time now. As you might expect, the pensive mood is provided via synths and electronic drums, but its fast tempo will set toes a-tapping. Pitchfork notes this is the only tune from the album that they recorded remotely, sending tracks around to the group members in the way that has been technically possible for a while now but really became popular during the COVID pandemic. Check it out.
This Montreal band has been around for several years now, and for 2022 they've dropped this sweet ballad about troubled lovers pressing on with their holiday celebrations. Very nice. Proceeds from the song will benefit the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal. Check them out on Bandcamp.
Ah, one of those rabbit hole research situations presents itself. I started out believing I'd unearthed a new Christmas compilation, only to discover it's from 2016. Looking further, I discovered that "Band in Seattle" is a local TV series featuring Seattle-area bands that's been on for seven seasons. This 2016 collection is the soundtrack from a single Christmas-themed episode of the show. And it's pretty darn good, offering modern takes on classic tunes like Jupe Jupe's "I Saw Three Ships," Blake Lewis' mildly hip-hop influenced "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," Star Anna and Whitney Lyman offering traditional versions of "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night," respectively, Jake Hemming & the Bereaved going hard rock on "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and Good Company going all big-band blues on "Good King Wenceslas." The rest of the tunes are originals, starting with Bread & Butter's rock take on "All I Want For Christmas Is For You to Stop Being a Psycho," Whitney Monge's ballad "Around Christmas Time," Charlie and the Rays' jump blues "Long Nights (Yule Log)," The Crying Shame's boogie version of "Don't Touch the Christmas Tree," Sundae + Mr. Goessi's old-fashioned jazz ballad "Dear Santa Won't You Bring Me a Ring," SweetKiss Momma's 70s hard rock "Santa's Got Bad Intentions," Vaudeville Etiquette's country-inflected "Spice the Eggnog," Jessica Lynne Witty & the Cousins' similarly styled "Yuletide in My Doublewide," The Bend's grungy "Wassail, Wassail," Furniture Girls' pop-rocker "Yule Tied," The Malady of Sevendials' gothy "I Remember That December," The Staxx Brothers' "Slow Jam For Christmas," which isn't really in the slow jam style, and Champagne Honeybee's 50s-flavored lament "Kimchee For Christmas." Click the cover to get it from Amazon. There were Christmas episodes of the show in 2017 and 2018 per IMDB, but I was unable to rustle up compilations from those years, so feel free to comment here if you know something I don't. UPDATE: Stubby writes in to note that the "Band in Seattle" show went all in on the 2016 release with not only CD but DVD releases, and they wildly overestimated demand for the physical artifacts. As a result, there were only a few new songs on the 2017 show and the 2018 show simply drew from the two previous years. He notes a couple of the bands, one of which was The Staxx Brothers, issued separate 12-inch singles of their songs. Nevertheless, the 2016 album remains available to download.
Phoebe's been a recurring presence in the Christmas season, and for 2022 she adds to her personal holiday repertoire this song, which is a cover of a tune originally done by the Handsome Family. This is part of an EP that also includes last year's Tom Waits cover "Day After Tomorrow," both tunes being pensive and a little downbeat, which is nothing new for her. The EP, it should be noted, also includes the entire contents of her previous Christmas EP, If We Make It Through December. Needless to say, you can graze them individually or catch yourself up with the full EP.
Back in 2003, a teenaged Joss knocked the hipsters back on their heels with The Soul Sessions, a collection of 60s soul covers she nailed with a set of pipes that were widely considered mature for her age at that time. Unfortunately, she hasn't made any notable chart breakthroughs since then, which is a shame as she can still sing with any female vocalist you can name. Judging by this 2022 album, though, it appears she's gone full tilt old-school orchestral pop vocalist. The only thing that hearkens back to her original breakthrough album is a solid, if not exceptional, cover of Stevie Wonder's "What Christmas Means To Me." She contributes two ballad-style originals to this album, "Bring On Christmas Day" and "If You Believe," which show off her soul-singing chops a little bit. All the rest are classic pop carols and hymns, starting with a few lines of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" leading into "Let It Snow," "Winter Wonderland, "Jingle Bells," "Away in a Manger," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "White Christmas," "In the Bleak Midwinter," and "Silent Night." Folks who like the standards will be happy with this, but Mistletunes regulars might want to pass this by.
Last year we got a punk-rock Christmas album from these guys, and they're back in 2022 with another thrashy helping of holiday goodness. This is more of a long EP, seven songs, with three covers, a reggae version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," and fast punked-out versions of "Deck the Halls" and "Silver Bells." Their own tunes include a mid-tempo grinder about "Krampus," a thrashy protest against "Fruitcake," an almost pop-punk opener in "It's Christmas!," and "If You Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine," which is about presents, right? A short but solid collection, following on from last year's collection. You'll find it on Bandcamp.
Just received a preview of this new-for-2022 single from this Texas husband-and-wife musical duo, who started posting songs to Spotify in 2020 and are en route to a first album sometime next year. From the title, you probably can guess what the lyrics are about, the usual homespun holiday verities, but they do a nice job of expressing them in this 80s-influenced synth-pop ballad. It'll be available generally on Dec. 8.
Another Peter Buck/Scott McCaughey joint, this 2022 midtempo rocker is an ode to personal rights and autonomy, not to mention an elbow to the gullet of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. Serious lyrical content, but well done; some may not want this in their playlists, but many will. On Bandcamp.
This Nashville group gives us a warm folk-pop holiday ballad for 2022, simple but dressed for the holidays with sleigh bells and toy piano evoking home and hearth as the singer makes his way home for Christmas. Nice work. Grab it on Bandcamp.
We've tried to cover the annual Snowflake Christmas Singles Club offerings every year, though the nature of the club makes it difficult. For 2022, they're only offering two singles instead of the usual three, and there are no previews or downloads. The format is 7-inch singles with one original and one cover on each side, and historically they've been some great indie pop-rock holiday tunes. This year, Annie Jay offers "Christmas Morning" and "Blue Christmas," while Donna Regina performs "Weihnachten Woanders (Christmas Somewhere Else)" and "Christmas With You." They can easily be ordered through Bandcamp, but as Snowflake is based in the Netherlands, and Annie Jay doesn't release until mid-December, it may be a while before you get your hands on them. If they turn up elsewhere, I'll let you know.
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These Boston-based barroom rockers have been on the Christmas tip for a while now, and for 2022 they drop a fine new original in which Santa decides to rest on his laurels and his Social Security pension instead of mounting the sleigh one more time. If a free download from Bandcamp isn't thrifty enough for you, they throw in a pair of non-holiday bonus tracks, "C'mon All Ye Boys" and "Drinking After Work."
From the title, you might get where these guys are from. For 2022, they've put together a solid modern pop-rocker about the joys of a holiday located just east of the great metropolis. Think of it as a bridge-and-tunnel riposte to Rob Thomas' "A New York Christmas." It's not available until Nov. 29, but this will put it on your radar. UPDATE: Click the cover to get it from Amazon, it's an EP with instrumental and live versions added to the studio take.
Unless you're from Southwestern Pennsylvania, you're unlikely to get the title of this 2022 charitable holiday collection. Folks from the Pittsburgh area tend to use "yinz" or "you-uns" for the second person plural pronoun, and those who use these idioms a lot get called "yinzers." Now that we've dispensed with the linguistics trivia, this collection features a raft of Pittsburgh-area bands performing holiday favorites for the benefit of Band Together Pittsburgh, a non-profit supporting music-based outreach to the autistic community. Things kick off with Gene the Werewolf's version of "All I Want For Christmas," the familiar arrangement but a crunchier performance. Joe Grushecky does "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" in a 70s hard-rock style, Donnie Iris takes the Elvis tack on "Blue Christmas," Pete Hewlett does a solid big-band take on "What Christmas Means to Me," Joey Wodarek Jr. does Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again," and Cello does an original hip-hop arrangement of "The Grinch." While most of the collection is solid rock 'n roll, there are some more traditional takes, such as the Clarks' Scott Blasey on "Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Jeff Jimerson on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Bill Deasy on "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," Johnny Angel and the Halos on "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," Benj Spencer on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and The Skyliners on "Dancin' in the Snow." Meanwhile, Baylee Taylor localizes, and puts a tiny bit of country into, "Home For the Holidays," Patrick Lah and Joe Hnath perform Michael Buble's "Cold December Night," Joe Wodarek takes on Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas," and he teams with Stevee Wellons for "Baby It's Cold Outside." We get some blues, too: Miss Freddye throws us some jump blues on "Hey Santa Claus," Norman Nardini plays a stride rhythm on "Merry Christmas Everybody" (not the Slade classic), Abby Abbodanza gives us "Let's Be Naughty," and Clinton Clegg lets rip on "Please Come Home for Christmas." Should also note that the band Totally 80s unexpectedly performs a 70s classic, Elton John's "Step Into Christmas." There's more, and it's all worth your while. Only available to download directly from the charity.
This Nashville-based artist has been around on Americana radio for a few years now, and for 2022 she dropped this holiday EP. Nothing remarkable in song choices; she renders four familiar holiday tunes, three from the rock-pop canon and one classic, in a folky-pop style. The classic, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," runs with the "muddle through" lyric, and her version of Joni Mitchell's "River" is a straight reading of the original. She does mellower versions of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Last Christmas," and the latter might be the best of the four tunes here, retaining the original arrangement with a bit earthier delivery. This will be greeted warmly by her fans; the rest of you might pine for something a bit livelier.
These LA-based middle schoolers landed like the Allies on D-Day a couple years ago with their song "Racist Sexist Boy," and for 2022 they took a swing at the holidays with this cool pop-punk single. Think Ramones by way of Green Day, only with girls, and you've got it. Now add it to your playlists. Available wherever you get your music.
Swedish singer-songwriter Sofia planted her flag in the Christmas season a couple decades ago now, and though she's got a pretty wide repertoire of non-holiday originals, she seldom passes up an opportunity to issue a new holiday single. For 2022, she goes winter solstice with a plaintive ballad addressing someone who may be made out of snow, or maybe someone with a bit more substance than that. Scheduled for release Dec. 1 on Bandcamp as a free download.
Rotterdam's finest indie-poppers, formerly That Band From Holland, return to the pages of Mistletunes once more for 2022. This year's offering is a single featuring the mid-tempo numbers "Pretend it was December," a lilting shuffle about having to write a Christmas song in September, and "Room Full of Reindeers," an ode to the singer's collection of miniature reindeer. As always, the songs sound dour but feature dryly humorous lyrics. Find this on Bandcamp.
New Jersey power-poppers The Orion Experience profess a love for 70s pop-rock, and if you haven't heard them before now, this 2022 Christmas single will drive it home for you. This is a solid uptempo number with all your favorite Badfinger/Cheap Trick/70s new wave cues intact, and the song itself takes on holiday commercialism with a smile. Grab it from Amazon.
We had Vancouver-based Adam for the first time last season with a full album of holiday silliness, and he's back with a single for 2022. The A-side is a pop-rocker that is about, well, trying to get a fruitcake from a drive-thru restaurant, and the B-side, "Christmas Sock Drop," is about having your socks droop inside your winter boots. Novelties, but also fun pace-changers for your playlists. Hie yourself on over to Bandcamp for a taste.
Christmas instrumentals are a mixed bag because if they're not familiar tunes, listeners may have a hard time associating them with the holiday. Not so this nicely done synth-orchestral pop number, which keeps the chimes and jingle bells out front so you can't think of anything other than snow and Santa. This group is a multi-national assemblage from the US, Canada and Italy, and they've really nailed the holiday with this 2022 offering. Check it out.
