This band of Toronto indie-rockers worked up this angular bit of power pop for the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club in 2024. Nice upbeat tune with deep lyrics. In keeping with the one-original, one-cover policy of the club, they remade "Hard Candy Christmas" in a more upbeat version kind of emulating Lloyd Cole for the B-side. Swing over to Bandcamp to stream them and possibly buy the vinyl, it was still in stock at this writing. Downloads limited to vinyl buyers. No streaming or download at other outlets.
November 2024 Archives
Simon long ago had a band called the Chesterfields, and for the 2024 Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club he repurposed a 1988 song of his called "Last Train To Yeovil," a solidly upbeat jangle rocker. Flip side is Greg Lake's "I Believe In Father Christmas," a cool indie-pop rendering that strips away the pomp of the original without losing any of the familiar elements. Vinyl copies still available at Bandcamp at this writing, with downloads tied to the vinyl purchase. Also up for streaming and downloads.
French-speaking Canadians sing about a revolution by Santa's elves on this 2024 entry in the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club. A nice upbeat pop-rocker that crosses psychedelic with French ye-ye pop music of the 1960s, you'll have to Google Translate to get the full effect of the lyrics. The cover song for the B-side is "Le Plus Fort," a French obscurity originally done by an artist named Pussy Cat. It's more of the same and great fun for all that. Vinyl still available via Bandcamp, downloads included in purchase price. Streaming and downloads are up in the usual places as well.
This Nevada group straddles 70s funk and exotica on this cool 2024 tune that's intended to evoke "the darker side of Christmas folklore." Scratchy rhythm guitar and electric Wurlitzer piano dominate on the extended intro. Another Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club entry, the B-side takes a similar tack on an instrumental "Greensleeves." The vinyl artifact is sold out, but you can stream it on Bandcamp. Streaming and downloads are available elsewhere.
A few years ago, these guys from Nashville dropped three, count 'em, Christmas singles over the course of a month. It's 2024 and they've dropped a fourth one. The power pop arrangement is decorated with a significant amount of country and bluegrass picking, perfect for those eclectic playlists. The lyrics paint an idyllic picture of a childhood Christmas playing in the snow and the music supports it just fine. Download and streaming, of course.
If you thought the number of past Christmas singles by these guys suggested a full album was on the way, then 2024 is the year you were right. These guys are mainly known for touring a show of some originals mixed with familiar tunes, all arranged with an eye to how the Beatles would have done it. This sets them apart from the vast majority of Beatles-themed touring acts whose ship-in-a-bottle versions of Fab Four classics keep the audiences coming, while putting them solidly in the tradition of such past Mersey Christmas purveyors as the Rubber Band, Fab Four, and the Butties. As you might expect, their previous efforts are all here, and there's a fair number of fully original tunes, starting with previously released "Gonna Be Christmas" and Dylan-adjacent "Christmas Day," continuing with the funky "Festivus," the Abbey Road-styled "Star Carol," and the New Year's themed "Another Year." Oddly, they gave up partway through some other originals that sound promising: "Christmas Keeps Coming Around," "Baby Got Something For Me," "December," and "Yuletide Eyes." Flesh those out, boys! Also in the playlist are a faithful "Run Rudolph Run," opener "Joy," an instrumental arrangement of familiar carols, and "Must Be Santa" liberally sprinkled with riffs from "Helter Skelter." Mandatory for Beatles freaks, and plenty of playlist opportunities for everybody else, although the best tunes remain the ones already available. Download and streaming available, or you can get a CD from their website.
Well, this will wake you up on Christmas morning in a heck of a hurry. This southeastern Michigan band just dropped an album, Exhibition, and at the same time provided us with this solid ska-punk Christmas song. If you can't connect the title to the song, be advised that it's a reference to an episode of "30 Rock" in which some characters made up a fake religion to get out of Kenneth the page's Secret Santa giveaway. To quote singer Benny Capaul: "'Tis the season of disastrous relationships and crippling self-isolation mixed with stretched out and holey stockings overflowing with regret and jealousy. Deck the halls with subzero apartments and frostbitten appendages!" Downloads and streaming, natch.
Belle's got a country voice, but this pop piano ballad version of Merle Haggard's classic holiday tune will get you right where you live. The usual downloads and streaming apply.
Sofia's been a staple here at Mistletunes almost since the beginning with her insistence on making new Christmas music every year. For 2024, we get a very cool folk-rocker about a hiker on the Appalachian Trail (noted in the title) on a wintry hike who doesn't quite make it, based on the true story of a man who had better luck. Sofia's had some fairly dark takes on the holiday in the past but musically this is fairly upbeat. Visit her Bandcamp page (it's not up yet but keep checking, as it's free or pay voluntarily). UPDATE: It's up.
Don't know much about Max Rae, but she's apparently making a name for herself in Las Vegas and in England, where she toured as support to pop band Blue. For 2024 she dropped this single, a soul-sounding midtempo ballad that's kind of abstract but definitely mentions Christmas. It's short and sweet. There's also a cover of "Holly Jolly Christmas" in the traditional arrangement but with modern production touches. However, Spotify and Amazon only show the A-side, I got to hear the B-side through a private link. Feel free to keep an eye out for it if you're interested.
Another Vancouver band from the fairly recent past with three albums out, they dropped this 2024 midtempo ballad, a dreamy thing with layered guitars that will distinguish serviceable playlists from really good ones. Downloads and streaming, natch.
First-call producer Jack Antonoff (Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar) is also a performer under the band name Bleachers, and for 2024 he finally dropped this holiday song that he's been teasing for a few seasons now. It's a fairly downbeat story, lyrically speaking, about a prodigal son or an ungrateful lover depending on your viewpoint (or who's singing it), but the modern rock backing, blending guitar and synths in a way that could be anyone from U2 to the Killers, will have listeners bouncing along despite the lyrics. Nice piece of work. Streaming and downloads widely available.
Hadn't heard of these guys before. They were a fairly active shoegaze band from Vancouver in the 1990s, but they're back in 2024 with this hot little number that is decidedly NOT shoegaze; much closer to Cheap Trick-style power pop. Run with this, folks, it's a barn burner. Streaming and downloads available.
It's a three-peat for the Philadelphia Eagles, or at least those members of the NFL team that have participated in this now-annual Christmas compilation series. As in the past, proceeds from the album and the associated swag will be donated to Philly local charities. The footballers, as in the past, tapped a number of celebrities to assist in this venture. Stevie Nicks shines as she assists in a credible cover of Ron Sexsmith's "Maybe This Christmas," Boyz II Men and KC Chiefs star (and Taylor Swift-dating) Travis Kelce help out an original, "It's Christmas Time (In Cleveland Heights)," name-checking Kelce and brother Travis' home town, and former Philly local band Mt. Joy kick in with another original, "Santa Drives an Astrovan." Devon Gilfillian performs on the non-holiday "Having a Party" by Sam Cooke, Immanuel Wilkins joins in on a straight jazz "Sleigh Ride," and the third original features Kylie Kelce, Jason's wife, on the country ballad "Loud Little Town." The remaining songs are credited solely to the Philly Specials: "Last Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Feliz Navidad," "Please Come Home For Christmas," a fairly hammy take on the Chipmunks' "It's Christmas Don't Be Late," and they close with an a capella version old Irish drinking song, "Parting Glass." Not a must-have, unless you're an Eagles fan, but the celebrity involvement and original tunes make this worth scouring for playlist selections. Hard copies and swag are at the Philly Specials website, but it's widely downloadable and streamable as well.
Molly's been a busy Christmas elf, having previously dropped a full Christmas album and a subsequent single, and for 2024 she's back with a new holiday tune, a cool midtempo lost-love holiday lament with subtle holiday touches that will liven up anybody's playlist. Downloads and streaming available.
Coco's better known as an actress on Peacock's "Bel-Air" and several Disney properties, but she's pursued a parallel career as an R'nB singer, and this 2024 EP brings us four new original tunes, the sprightly opener "Santa Is Me," the slow jam "Call on Christmas," the more uptempo, and boastful, "My Presence Is a Present," and the pensive ballad "String of Lights." While trying to get up to speed on this release, I discovered she has another single from last year, "A Timeless Christmas." Download and stream all of this from the usual sources.
- They're doing a 40th anniversary version of "Do You Know It's Christmas" that's a mashup of previous versions of the song, remixed by its original producer Trevor Horn. I posted this here mainly for completists; I haven't found it available from US sites yet but that could possibly change. UPDATE: Amazon now shows an EP featuring several previous versions, the new version, and a live version, dropping Nov. 29.
- Sabrina Carpenter dropped a holiday EP last year, and on December 6 Netflix will premiere her holiday special "A Nonsense Christmas" featuring herself, Chappell Roan, Tyla, Shania Twain, and Sean Astin among other guests. You might want to see if anything unique happens on there, if you're a Netflix customer anyway.
This up-and-coming alt-rock singer-songwriter has dropped a unique rocking original for the holiday, a funky semi-acoustic romp that sounds a bit like something G. Love and Special Sauce would have recorded. I like it. Has the "explicit" tag, but I didn't hear the bad words if they're even there. Download and stream in the usual places, no physical media I'm aware of.
We've had this Cleveland punk band's holiday offerings before, and they're back for 2024 with another EP featuring a solidly punk-pop version of the title song, "Auld Lang Syne," and "Alone on Christmas," an original with a few judiciously placed classic carol quotes. Great for the "dad punk" (their term) fans among us. Up for download or streaming in all the usual places.
Dean & Britta are the indie-pop duo formerly of the band Luna, and Sonic Boom is Pete Kember of Spacemen 3. Both artists have previous takes on the holiday, and for 2024 they combined for a full album of lo-fi shoegaze indie pop celebrating the holidays. All are covers, starting with the late David Berman's "Snow Is Falling in Manhattan" and proceeding through a cool, almost synth-pop take on "Pretty Paper," country-ish influences on "He's Coming Home," Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December," and Eddy Arnold's "Christmas Can't Be Far Away," a slow instrumental "Greensleeves" called "Silver Snowflakes," a quiet version of Harry Nilsson's "Snow," a James Bond nod with "Do You Know How Christmas Trees are Grown," a Hal David number, Roger Miller's "Old Toy Trains," the Bing/Bowie medley "Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy," and previously released tunes "Little Altar Boy" and John & Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)." A little off the beaten path sonically, but highly listenable as a whole and chock full of good playlist opportunities. Vinyl, download and streaming available.
OK, here's the new Laufey tune. This 2024 song, a jazzy midtempo pop number, is an Amazon exclusive, and it's part of the new Santa Claus movie "Red One." Not my cup of tea, but it's uptempo and fun and I'm not going to rain on the parade of anybody who wants to playlist this. UPDATE: While over at Amazon, I found several other exclusives, which are all hit radio pop midtempo ballads, so I'm just going to list them: "It Can't Be Christmas" by Tom Grennan, "The Christmas Song" (different song, no chestnuts) by Angus & Julia Stone, "Driving Home For Christmas" by The Reklaws, "Jingle Bell Rock" by the Elevator Boys, "Christmas Party" by Francesca Michielin, "Give Love on Christmas Day" by Muni Long, and "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" by Julien Doré.
This Brooklyn-based band made a kind of doomy cover of the Darlene Love/Phil Spector classic, slow tempo with lots of synths, but definitely not unlistenable. Download and stream it in all the usual places.
Back in the previous decade, Erin put out F*ck That!, billed as an anti-holiday album, and we here in the igloo found it pretty entertaining, with its jaundiced view of the holiday's lowlights. For 2024 she's decided to strike twice with this new EP, which doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, in that the songs don't quite make the anti-holiday case this time around, although they do favor the jaundiced view of the proceedings. "The Candle Song" is about rushing to accommodate extra guests for holiday dinner, "What Child Is This?" uses the carol to talk about being unequipped to handle someone else's infant, "The 12 Crises of Xmas" likewise uses the familiar song to lament individual holiday dramas, and "Beautiful and Perfect (Home For the Holidays)" is a cry to support a lover as that person is being passively and aggressively put down by the parental units. Given the election results, best to just pretend "Kamala Ye Faithful" isn't here. Three of the songs reappear in "Kleen Mix" drag, if you need them. Available via Bandcamp or the usual streaming and download venues.
I've often paraded my sweet tooth for old-school soul music before the readership, so when Stubby tipped me to this guy, I immediately looked him up. Wesley, originally from Akron, OH, leads a soul band called the Honeytones that had a booming career as a touring act until Wesley had to take time off for family matters. But he's since returned to the studio, and this 2024 holiday EP is the result. You'll hear a lot of the 1960s soul sounds made by the smaller independent labels of the period, rather than Motown or Stax. Younger listeners will hear Daptone sounds, of course, and it's always fun to play spot-the-influences with genre artists like Wesley. Meanwhile, the songs are strong and well performed. "My Favorite Holiday" kicks things off nicely, no spoiler alerts necessary for the lyrics of course. "Give Out My Christmas Love" will bring everybody to the dance floor, as will "It's That Time" and "I'm Coming Home," the latter sounding a lot like an old soul tune called "Well Baby Please Don't Go," and reindeer get two shout-outs here, the gritty blues "Ain't No Reindeer" and the midtempo ballad "It's Raining Reindeer." Great stuff. Stubby notes that releases by the West One label tend to disappear from availability after a short time, so you might want to download this while you can. It's also on streaming; no physical media I'm aware of.
Not familiar with this Montreal duo, but you gotta admire how they turned this evergreen Wham cover into a shoegaze anthem without losing the original's tension between upbeat music and downbeat lyrics. Get it from Bandcamp or click the cover for Amazon. From 2024.
- I deleted the entry for Laufey's "Winter Wonderland" because, although a Variety article stated it was a new song and a Spotify exclusive, and Spotify has it in their exclusive holiday collection with a copyright date of 2024, the song actually appeared on her 2023 EP A Very Laufey Christmas and is not really exclusive anywhere. Thanks to Stubby for pointing that out. He also noted that Laufey actually does have a new Christmas song this year that's an Amazon exclusive, and I'll give it a listen and post about it soon.
- Also, I'd like to note that the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club, which skipped 2023 entirely, is back for 2024 with four new releases. They don't drop until Nov. 29 and there aren't any previews on their Bandcamp page, at least until then, but since these tend to be limited vinyl releases, I'm posting now with the Big Cartel link so you can order one or all of them.
Indie label Cleopatra has persisted into the modern era with its occasional forays into the slowly dying genre of Christmas compilations, offering really cool punk, general, alternative rock, southern rock, psychedelic, rockabilly and psychobilly collections over recent seasons. For 2024 it's "Gothmas," bringing goth and industrial bands together for downbeat but by no means unlistenable takes on Christmas using familiar tunes and others less so. Five songs are by Cleopatra's Dark Ensemble, about which I couldn't find more info but I'm going to assume is some sort of label-organized ensemble, doing "Silent Night," "Carol of the Bells," "Deck the Halls," "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" narrated by Malcolm McDowell, and the collection's title song. The band Priest also does "Carol of the Bells," in a unique arrangement less bombastic than most rock bands' takes on the song. Kap Bambino offers the original "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)," an unexpectedly upbeat synth-poppy tune, and This Cold Night's "Reindeer" is similarly poppy in a more goth-oriented tune. R. Missing takes on "Little Drummer Boy" in a minor-key arrangement, Buzz Kull's version of Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December" is suitably dour for the collection while stealing a synth riff from Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry," and La Scaltra's "Sleigh Ride" is based on the riff from an 80s-90s song that currently escapes me. Rosetta Stone covers Sisters of Mercy's "Driven Like the Snow," Die Krupps takes on the Sonics's "Santa Claus" goth-style, and David J's version of Taylor Swift's "Christmases When You Were Mine" is suitably desperate-sounding. Skold takes on the Kinks' "Father Christmas," The KVB covers "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," Xiu Xiu performs "Frosty the Snowman," Missing Persons (the very same!) goes with "Last Christmas," 45 Grave does "The Snow Miser Song," and a version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" comes to us via Leaether Strip (spelled correctly). All told, a very listenable collection, and even the non-goth-oriented folks out there should be able to find some playlist candidates here. Note to vinyl-heads: only the first 14 songs of this collection are on the ancient artifact version. To get the full 20 songs, you must buy the CD, download, or stream it.
This popped up as a vinyl artifact last year; it's found its way to streaming in 2024. This is not what one might expect from the lead guitarist of the Patti Smith Group, but it's a nice emotional ballad about giving for the holidays. The band does the flip side without Lenny. Should be in all the usual places now.
Covering the Chris Rea original for 2024, Dasha does a nice job. A contemporary hit production, but it goes heavy on the acoustic guitars while laying down a bit of atmospherics in the arrangement. This one's a Spotify exclusive this year.
The popular pop singer takes on the Lindsay Buckingham original in an 80s-influenced synth-pop production. Very good; yet another 2024 Spotify exclusive.
Don't know much about Ambor, but this 2024 cover of Chuck Berry keeps to the original's guitar arrangement over a more syncopated backing. Poppy, but a serviceable cover. Stream it at Spotfy only this year.
Here comes another cover of the Joni Mitchell classic for 2024 as part of Spotify's exclusive Holiday Collection. This one's a piano instrumental, if that's your jam.
Here's a Spanish language original for 2024 from this Guatemalan group of brothers. They have won Latin Grammys as well as Dove awards, so they are pretty well known in Latin circles as well as the Christian music scene. Another Spotify exclusive for 2024.
Some have suggested Ben's best-known tune "Brick," about an abortion the day after Christmas, was a Christmas song, but I never was down with that, and in a Variety interview Ben disavows any notion of that. So you won't hear a retinseled version of that on this 2024 holiday album. What you will hear is a handful of solid new originals based in the holiday, cast in Ben's signature singing and piano playing and backed with imaginative arrangements. "Sleepwalking Through Christmas" addresses the very real phenomenon of going through the holiday motions, "Me and Maurice" is about walking his dog in the snow, "Christmas Time Rhyme" is a sprightly number, "We Could Have This" showcases the romance of Christmas with duet partner Lindsey Kraft, "Xmas Aye Eye" is a synth-pop ditty in which Ben used AI to write the lyrics, and "Little Drummer Bolero" and "Waiting For Snow" are instrumentals. Ben also covers "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)," Burt Bacharach's "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle," and Mills Brothers obscurity "You Don't Have To Be a Santa Claus." Plenty of playlist candidates here, and an enjoyable album that can be listened to all the way through.
This San Francisco-area performer has several albums under her belt as well as a history in commercials and jingles. For 2024, she is dropping this ballad that she calls a true story of her 6-year-old self seeing Santa's sleigh in the sky. Not too sappy considering the subject matter, and she gets props for writing "The Costco Chorus sings on high/Jingle Bells and Silent Night." Appears to be streaming and YouTube only.
Amy's had a number of past Christmas songs, and for 2024 she drops this ballad that's a plea for togetherness wrapped up in ethereal backing behind her own singing and guitar picking. It's beautiful as well as meaningful, and it has a new Netflix movie tie-in with "Virgin River." Located in all the usual places. Please note Amy's a co-producer of this year's Kevin Jonas Sr. album.
This is the father of the Jonas Brothers offering his own EP of Christmas music for 2024. Often known as "Papa Jonas," the collection is released under his own name, and all songs are written or co-written by him. The title song provides a fairly cool pop-rocker to get your attention, then we get "Jesu Bambino/O Holy Night," an original tied into the classic carol. "ChrisMess" is a fun take on dodging everyone's issues during holiday gatherings, "Stained Glass Window" is a power ballad (remember those?) about worshiping in church, "Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)" offers the I-got-mine-give-everybody-else theirs sentiment often heard this time of year, and "Wrap Me Up in Christmas" is a nice uptempo party song, although having Mom ask to be unwrapped at the end might not be as sexy as the composer thought it was. "ChrisMess" gets a reprise at the end in a more countrified version. All told, it's kind of a Dad-joke equivalent of a Christmas collection, but feel free to graze it for playlist entries.
Søren was a member of a band named New Politics, which was pretty popular on the international scene, but he eventually ended up working as a songwriter and producer in Nashville. He recently got the urge to record for himself again, and in 2024 he dropped a solo album and this new Christmas single. It's a solid modern pop rocker, almost power pop if you factor out the radio/streaming sheen on it. Streaming and download in all the usual places.
Pacific Northwest label Green Monkey has provided us with a number of fine alt-rock Christmas albums over the years. For 2024, they're dropping this album, which at first glance doesn't seem in keeping with the label's reputation; at first listen you assume this is a bit of retro-Christmas orchestral pop. Indeed, most of the songs are public domain classics, although Richard offers two originals, "Christmas By the Roundabout" and "On Christmas Day," both midtempo ballads, and a couple of the classics are augmented by the otherwise unidentified Phil Green: "'Phil Green' Sleeves," featuring some additional lyrical flourishes along with the "What Child Is This" lyrics normally offered, and "Green Christmas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." There's also versions of "Little Drummer Boy" and "It's Christmas Time Down in Bethlehem." The publicity notes that Richard is influenced by soundtrack music of the early television era, and as an indie musician, he achieves his sound with the heavy application of synth keyboards to provide the string and horn sections that soundtrack music demands. This is an extremely quirky offering, but it's also pretty listenable. On Bandcamp and elsewhere.
This 2024 release may be the first big-name application of AI in the Christmas music realm. Brenda gave permission to have her vocal redone in AI to allow the song to be sung "by her" in Spanish. There's a single with the original version on the other side, otherwise it's available in the usual places. While tracking this down I discovered there was an EP in 2023, A Rockin' Christmas, with five songs, all previously released except a second version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" that was remixed by someone named filious (no caps). You might find this to be fun to drop into a playlist of more modern holiday tunes.
John hasn't been the transgressive indie filmmaker for many years. Since his "Hairspray" was reimagined as a musical, he's been writing books and hitting the lecture circuit. One think he did do that's relevant here is compile a great off-the-wall Christmas album a good while back. For 2024 he dropped this single on Bandcamp, which is a mediocre cover of the Singing Dogs version of the carol. Flip side is "It's a Punk Rock Christmas," a silly monologue that is heavy on the sex talk (make that queer sex talk), though I admit to letting loose a few laughs at some of the gags. Not mandatory, but fine if this is your jam.
.... but I finally climbed down into the listening room with some of the early stuff that's coming for Christmas 2024. First reviews will follow soon. I appreciate your patience.
