To celebrate “the most wonderful time of the year,” Atwood Magazine’s Mistletones features fresh holiday/wintertime tracks and exciting covers of beloved classics. December has a knack for bringing out some of the most poignant, tender, and celebratory music, and we want to highlight that excitement by showcasing new and alternative holiday greats! Spice up your holiday season with songs you can listen to now and cherish in the years to come.

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It’s Christmas in California
Where the redwoods been burning for days
While the gold embers glow
Over Sacramento
They say we’re getting snow in LA

Oh, they’re hanging the tinsel in Times Square
And the traders down on Saint Mark’s Place
No one answers their door
For carolers in New York
But hey, we’re getting snow in LA

So Holy, Holy Christmas Day
Holy, Holy, come what may
And there’s six feet of snow in the San Fernando
Weighing heavy on every heart
But there’s hope under Bethlehem’s star

– “Snow in LA,” PJ Harding & Noah Cyrus

The most wonderful time of year has come around once again, and we’re ready to ring in the festivities with a fresh batch of holiday songs and winter wonders!

This year’s holiday season is marked by a resounding sense of appreciation, hope, excitement, and yearning: Many of our 2022 Mistletones picks capture what we might deem that “classic” holiday cheer – evoking feelings of togetherness, connection, and love – whilst just as many take on a more nostalgic or wistful tone, aching with the sorrow and loneliness that often accompanies the holidays.

Whether we’re basking in the festive bliss of songs like Titus Andronicus’ enthralling “Piano Man”-styled “Drummer Boy” and Tyrone Wells’ “Santa Rode a T-Rex,” or dreaming away the hours with sweetly stirring serenades like PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus’ “Snow in LA” and Phoebe Bridgers’ instant classic “So Much Wine,” all of this year’s Mistletones manage to embrace the spirit of this special season – lighting a fire deep inside us with captivating soundtracks and heartwarming reflections on life, happiness, and the people who matter most to us.

We hope these songs help inspire a sense of community and connection, love and togetherness for all who listen. This year’s Mistletones submissions are so great in number, and these songs are so special, that we’ve chosen to split them up into multiple features. See below as artists from around the world share what the holiday season (and holiday music) means to them, and listen to our Mistletones Holiday Songs playlist on Spotify. For more 2022 Mistletones, check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

From our family to yours, happy holidays and happy new year!

Love,

Mitch Mosk, Editor-in-Chief

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Featured here are PJ Harding, Titus Andronicus, Imogen Clark, Raccoon Tour, Debbie, Future of Forestry, American Authors, Distant Cousins, Phoebe Bridgers, Crowder, Tyrone Wells, Kadhja Bonet, Maple Glider, Alexander 23, Corvair, Sohodolls, Modern Temple, Alex Amiruddin & Vinnie Caruana, Darcy Fox, vaultboy, Rosie Darling, and Noah Vela!

Dive into these songs and our holiday interviews!

:: PJ Harding ::

Close collaborators PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus, who put out their EP People Don’t Change together last year, have reunited for a holiday song that doesn’t feel out of place amongst their releases. “Snow in LA” follows the mood of a traditional carol, slow and harmonious with the classic chime of bells in the background and an emotional build up towards the end. Lyrically it consists of a blend of recognizable magical imagery and the darkness of modern society, for example, “Oh, the children all lay awake hoping that maybe they’ll hear Santa’s sleigh, but they know all too well about the lies grown-ups tell, well, at least they’ll get snow in LA.” The snow in LA is a reference to climate change and natural disasters, a theme throughout the song. While the duo intend to highlight the gloominess, the result is sad and beautiful. – Francesca Rose

PJ Harding: I’ve always loved the holidays, growing up in Australia Christmas overlaps with our summer break so as a kid it was the always the best. We listen to a lot of Nat King Cole and Sinatra at Christmas time, which doesn’t feel at all summery. I love their versions of classic carols like O Holy Night and The First Noel. In terms of slightly more contemporary stuff, Sufjan Stevens has a couple of beautiful Christmas albums I come back to and of course the GOAT Mariah’s timeless record.

PJ Harding: Noah and I had talked about doing it previously but when it finally did happen it was pretty random. It was early in the year so Christmas was hardly on either of our minds but, like it so often does, the ideas kind of just tumbled out so we went with it. It got pretty dark pretty quickly but I think that just sort of confirmed to us that this was something worth doing and something that fit really nicely into the the body of work we’d already released together.

PJ Harding: Aside from the bells and references to Santa and other overtly Christmasy things I think it captures maybe something a little more subtle and disconcerting about what Christmas has become. I think the holiday season is really a time for reflection and increasingly that reflection is getting a little scary. In Australia in particular there’s a huge amount of destruction at Christmas time with bushfires getting increasingly out of control thanks in part to the effects of climate change. Basically we wanted to bring together a bunch of our fears about the future and the state of the world and put them into the context of a beautiful, hopeful Christmas song and just let that be a weird sort of uncomfortable thing for people to have.

PJ Harding: It has to be in the running for most depressing Christmas song. I’d love to see a playlist of sad Christmas songs, I think its a relatively under-represented category! It’s still a really fun song to sing along to though, and it was really important to us that it kept that. Hopefully it can become a sad Christmas staple for some people!

:: Titus Andronicus ::

Here is a Christmas song that nobody expected but, with all its playfulness, rowdiness and familiarity, totally works. “Drummer Boy” by New Jersey punk rock band Titus Andronicus is a reworking of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” put to original lyrics addressing the birth of Jesus. It starts with jingling bells which are followed by an explosive riff and the lines, “It’s nine o’clock on a Christmas Eve, there’s not any room at the inn. And there stands a young lady who’s having a baby, though she claims to be a virgin,” sung in a gravelly voice that evokes the contagious fervour felt when hearing The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.”

The holiday season often involves sharing joyous moments with people through music, whether it be singing along to karaoke-style classics at parties or just having an energized soundtrack to family and friends get togethers. “Drummer Boy” encompasses this aspect by merging a classic with the traditions of Christmas. – Francesca Rose

Titus Andronicus (Patrick Stickles): Though I concede that there may be things happening in the spirit world beyond my immediate comprehension, I am not an especially religious person. I do, however, cherish the holiday season for the way it compels us to be with the people we care for the most, be it a family biological or chosen. Our busy modern lives, loaded with obligations and responsibilities as they are, often distance us from these special people, and the holidays mercifully bring all that to a grinding halt, if only for a few days, so that we are reminded what is really valuable, that the greatest gifts are not found only under one tree – the family tree.

Music is, of course, a big part of this festive season – particularly, there are a few people in my family who have quite lovely voices (sadly, I am not one of them), so it is always a delight to pull out the guitar and have everyone chip in on their favorite carols.

I am a fan of the holiday genre in general, and I am not one of those people who gets annoyed when they start hearing those songs as soon as Thanksgiving dinner is packed in the Tupperware. My favorites are the ones that combine a triumphant grandeur with a sort of wintry melancholy – “Oh Holy Night” and “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” come to mind (maybe it’s something to do with the “oh” in the title). I also quite fancy the spookier ones, such as “We Three Kings” and “Carol of the Bells,” which would fit in just as well at Halloween, sonically speaking. As for the “rock” side of things, Bruce Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” never disappoints.

Titus Andronicus: Our song “Drummer Boy” is an amalgam of “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. I had the idea several years ago that these two classics could be combined, and that rather than having the titular “piano man” describing the patrons at the bar where he works, you could have the titular “(little) drummer boy” describing the various characters assembled at the Nativity scene – Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, etc. Not to flatter myself, but it seemed so obvious that I was surprised no one had thought of it before.

I sat on this idea for a long while, but as I get on in years, I realize more and more that I may not always have the luxury of time to pursue my large backlog of kooky concepts, and since the rock band was cooking pretty good from having been on the road a while, we popped into the recording studio when we had a couple days off and banged it out in a merry mood.

Titus Andronicus: Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” already has one of the biggest boxes checked for any great Christmas song, in that it is a song everyone knows / loves, and when the rousing chorus hits, you can’t help but sing along with gusto. All the songs the family would sing at the holiday hootenannies I mentioned before fit this criteria as well – the only problem with “Piano Man,” in that regard, was that the lyrics are not about Christmas, so I went ahead and made the necessary adjustments.

What’s more, the narrative of “Piano Man” describes a variety of colorful characters who gather together and form a community, and like I said, the holidays are all about bringing people together. Whether that means “sharing a drink they call loneliness” or just plain eggnog, it’s the reason for the season, to my mind.

Titus Andronicus: The way I figure it, everyone loves “Piano Man,” everyone loves “The Little Drummer Boy,” people want to hear the songs they know and love this time of year (ideally with a fresh twist), so it was a no-brainer, no more complex than mixing chocolate and peanut butter. Whether people choose to make “Drummer Boy” a part of their annual tradition is up to them, but I have done everything within my power to ensure that all is merry and bright this year – ho ho ho.

:: Imogen Clark ::

Christmas is typically a time for spreading affection, for getting close with loved ones or allowing romances to blossom.Therefore, imagine being dumped at Christmas. Wouldn’t that just be, like, a joke?!

“I Got Dumped For Christmas” by Australian singer/songwriter Imogen Clark feels like a holiday rom com. It has all the sonic traits of a classic pop Christmas song (but with a touch of rock attitude familiar with Clark) thus reaching to the masses and there’s relationship drama that’s addressed with lightheartedness. If it was a movie, we know that the protagonist is going to be just fine despite the setback. ‘I got dumped for Christmas/ You know it kind of sucks’ she sings when the song bursts into action, a skip in her step and a smile on her face. With Clark’s second Christmas song (in 2020 she released the more sombre “My Last Christmas With You”), getting dumped has never felt so fun. – Francesca Rose

Imogen Clark: Christmas makes me think of drinking white wine and trying not to get sunburned. We have Christmas at the height of summer so it’s the total opposite of the classic American white Christmas. I always spend it with my family out west of Sydney, which includes my gorgeous rescue dog Socks. My cousins come over, we eat and drink way too much, listen to tonnes of music from the 70s, lie around on the couch and force Socks to wear Christmas outfits.

I actually hate most Christmas music to be honest, but a massive exception is ‘How to Make Gravy’ by Paul Kelly, which may not be that well known in the US but is an absolute classic in Australia. It’s written from the perspective of a guy writing a letter to his family from prison a few days out from Christmas because he can’t be there – it’s heartbreaking, it’s got no chorus, it’s one of the most covered Australian songs of the last 40 years and I cry every time I hear it. If you have not heard it, seek it out now!

Imogen Clark: It was really a challenge I set myself during the first year of Covid, when everything I was doing was about stretching myself creatively. I really liked the idea of finding new ways to come at a Christmas song, to write something for people who don’t connect with all the tradition Christmas songs. So my first Christmas song was sad (My Last Christmas With You), my second one was horny (When Can I Touch You Again?) and this year I decided to go for something bitter and cathartic and fun! I wrote this one with my friend, wonderful songwriter Phil Barton, during my most recent trip to Nashville, and we loved it so much that we recorded it the following week with Michael Carpenter producing from afar and Mike Bloom recording my vocals in LA.

Imogen Clark: The holidays are the time when you take stock of your year, and it has not been a banner year for me romantically, let me just say that!! Part of the feeling I was trying to capture was that idea of starting to build a life with someone and looking forward to bringing them into your family and your traditions and becoming a part of theirs as well, and imagining that future together, which all gets cut out from under you when you get dumped. But also the spirit of the song is a bit playful and funny. It’s looking at the year and going “Well, that happened” and exorcising that energy, maybe having a few too many drinks and too much Christmas pudding and getting all the feelings out before starting over fresh in the New Year.

Imogen Clark: I know I am far from alone in going through what I’ve been through in my love life this year, so I wanted to write something for all the bitter single girlies out there to drink eggnog and scream-sing along to this Christmas. Like yes, wallow in your feelings, but in a fun way.

:: Raccoon Tour ::

Let’s not forget the new year celebrations, that period after Christmas where we reflect on what’s passed and what we’d like to come. It can be a time of continued festivities or just total indifference. “Happy New Year I’m Still a Piece of Garbage” is typically Raccoon Tour in sound- joyous ukulele strums mashed together with a hyperactive synth, punky crashes of drums, and a hint of peak emo vibes. The pessimism is embraced with playfulness, suggesting that, even if emotional and alone this festive period, we can always find the fun and humour in things.

The song was written for the I Surrender Sleighs compilation album by I Surrender Records. Raccoon Tour, a group from Idaho who approach their songs with an air of dark fantasy, released their debut album The Dentonweaver last year. – Francesca Rose

Raccoon Tour: I am lucky enough to have a background and childhood where I actually adored the holidays. Christmas was always a blast. Christmas Eve at Grandma’s house eating cornbread and chili while visiting family was iconic growing up. A few of my favorite holiday songs are “Nothing For Christmas” by New Found Glory, “Sleigh Ride” by the Ronettes, and controversially, “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Frank Sinatra and Dorothy Kirsten. That song is so wildly misunderstood and TikTok did it so dirty.

Raccoon Tour: I Surrender Records reached out to me last summer and proposed we participate with their compilation, which was exciting. I have been terrified of making a holiday song because they’re so specific and overdone, it’s tricky to make something new without copying someone else. I decided to write a song about New Year’s Eve which is technically a holiday that’s adjacent enough to Christmas and the like. That decision alone really helped make the writing process feel easier and less derivative.

Raccoon Tour: I think New Year’s Eve is a really melancholy and reflective holiday. It marks the passage of time which alone is existentially terrifying, but it also highlights achievements and disappointments from the previous year. It’s so rife with thematic potential, I’m legitimately curious why no one aside from Motion City Soundtrack has dug into it. Highlighting those themes, adding common ambiances you’d hear at a New Year’s party like a crowd counting down and fireworks as well as wintery gusts, and using a similar chord progression to Auld Lang Syne were all deliberate choices to reinforce the New Year theme.

Raccoon Tour: “Happy New Year I’m Still A Piece of Garbage” is more of a snapshot of something that happened with the holiday setting as a backdrop. I hope it certainly feels timely, but I really wanted to make a song I could play year round as well. Hopefully it’s that ambivalence that allows this song to be fun in summer months as well as December that allows it to be different from other holiday jams.

:: Debbie ::

“Trinket” by newcomer Debbie encompasses the bittersweet romances of the holiday season, whether those of memories or a relationship that’s melting away. ‘This Christmas night I’m trying to hide that I’m still falling apart/ It’s half past two/ I’m thinking of you/ There’s weeping from my heart’ go the opening lines against a warming glow.

Debbie is an artist from London making music that’s R&B and soulful. The 23 year old’s debut single “Is This Real Love?” was released last year and she is signed to 0207 Def Jam, the London-based extension of Def Jam Records. “Trinket” is one of the original tracks featured on the compilation album Def The Halls. – Francesca Rose

:: Future of Forestry ::

Eric Owyoung (Future of Forestry): I grew up with a pretty nostalgic view of Christmas. I remember sitting by the tree and turning out all the lights, and just sitting there, contemplating it alone. Having that memory has always been a starting point for developing music around Christmas. In many ways, my Christmas music has grown from that time as a child. I have a real affinity with traditional Christmas songs. So, Silent Night, O Holy Night, O Come O Come Emmanuel… ones that are traditionally done in a very hymn-like fashion but have such incredible melodies and lyrics.

Eric Owyoung: I started recording Christmas EPs rearranging the traditional Christmas songs that I loved so much. But I got to a point where the only songs that I could think of that were left were songs I didn’t connect to. I would try and try, time and time again, to rearrange the chords and progressions, but with some songs, I just couldn’t get there. So honestly, I just kind of ran out of songs after a while. So I got to the point where I decided to write original Christmas songs.

It’s hard for me to write Christmas music because it’s just such a tall order. They’re stacked up next to all the great traditional songs. With normal songwriting, you can write about anything you are feeling. If you’re having a bad day, then you write about the sorrows of your bad day, and people can relate or connect to it for one reason or another. But to me, a Christmas song usually isn’t about you and your bad day… it’s about this miracle of Christ’s birth and pondering the mystery of God becoming flesh and what that means to us. It’s a deep theological process! I can usually write a song in a few hours or a few days. But these two songs took me many weeks to write.

Eric Owyoung: What I attempted to do is try and capture the aspect of longing and waiting that is heavily interwoven into the advent season and advent liturgy. I started by collecting a lot of important scripture sections, and I took a lot of liturgy passages. Then I wrote it all out and put all these little pieces of paper all over the floor. Then I stepped back and looked for themes. I looked at the spirit of longing and waiting and what it meant for the Israelites, and what it means for us today. For me, Advent is about capturing Christmas as a whole, not just one day. It is such a beautiful season to explore and deepen our faith.

:: American Authors ::

Zac Barnett (American Authors): We celebrate Hanukkah & Christmas in my house & you better believe come November 1 our house is fully decorated ready for the season. We do all the prayers, candle lighting & 8 nights of (small) gifts plus opening presents on Christmas Eve with family followed by a big dinner &, of course, Christmas karaoke with the in-laws. My favorite classic xmas songs are Mele Kalikimaka, Silent Night, Silver Bells, Felix Navidad to Last Christmas to new stuff like Ariana grandes Santa Tell Me & Coldplays Christmas Lights. But obviously the new original American Authors Christmas songs are my ultimate favs.

Zac Barnett: I genuinely love Christmas & holiday music. I grew up singing it in a small group choir that would get hired to carol at restaurants & events back in high school & I guess it stuck. Last year our xmas song, favorite time of the year, came out so organically I was excited to write more holiday music. I was having some writers block working on Christmas Karaoke (probably cuz it was written in July) so I got on the treadmill & put on holiday music YouTube playlists till the concept & melody idea came to me…it took like 4 miles or so to get it so I was quite exhausted.

Zac Barnett: The lyrics tell a fun story that can be enjoyed from the perspective of family fun or a night out with friends. These days I usually spend the holidays with family but I’ve had so many friendsgivings & holiday high school reunions in my hometown where it’s about rekindling old friendships. This song is special because while it tells a fun modern story, the second verse plays on holiday nostalgia by listing a bunch of famous xmas songs….how many titles can you count?

Zac Barnett: American Authors’ holiday songs are fun, upbeat, and inclusive to everyone. Growing up Jewish, just me & my single mom, the holiday season always hit different & I’m thankful for all the friends & family that helped me feel included in their holiday festivities. Our house is always open to friends & family & I like to think American Authors music can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter what you’re going through or where you’re from.

:: Distant Cousins ::

Ami: As Jews, we have the benefit of enjoying multiple holiday seasons. On the Jewish Calendar, a lot of holidays fall in September/October which is followed by Thanksgiving and Chanukah, so it’s non-stop festivities for us! Holiday music is incredibly iconic and truly ingrained in the American songbook. It’s always a beautiful time of year when these classic songs begin re-circulating. Interestingly, many classic Christmas songs were written by Jewish songwriters! However, what’s often been lacking in the holiday music space are songs that distinctly celebrate the Jewish Culture and experience. That is why we are so excited to be putting out “My Eight Favorite Nights” so it can exist amongst the many classic holiday songs already in the catalog.

Duvid: When Brad Delson from Linkin Park sent us this song he co-wrote with Landon Pigg, we fell in love with it right away. We have shied away from making an overt holiday song in the past. We never wanted to release a holiday song unless it felt honest, but when we heard this song, it all made sense. To us the song feels like it has a timeless quality. Sort of like it’s always been there just waiting to be heard. Songs are like living creatures. They have a life of their own. They should be able to stand on their own. We feel the song stands on its own even beyond the holidays. We are so excited to see where it goes!

Dov: “My Eight Favorite Nights” feels like a classic holiday song instantly because of the chord changes, melody and warm, cozy feeling overall. However, the new element is that it’s not about Christmas, it’s about Hannukah! Typically, Hanukkah songs tend to be cute and kitschy – which there’s certainly a time and place for – but often the songs lack real depth in the lyrics. When we heard Brad’s song, we immediately connected to the soulfulness of the lyrics like, “Every flame sets you free / like a brave Maccabee / oh our faith is burning bright, all night.” This song also has a more mellow, introspective vibe than the upbeat holiday songs already out there. We’re honored to have collaborated with Brad on this beautiful classic!

:: Phoebe Bridgers ::

What’s the holiday season without another cover by Phoebe Bridgers? Continuing her take on lesser-known tracks, including “Christmas Song” by McCarthy Trenching (2018) and “If We Make It through December” by Merle Haggard (2020), this year it’s The Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine.” Melancholic, dreamy and sombre, it poetically recounts the experience of dealing with a loved one who’s being destroyed by alcoholism. Bridgers’ distinctive touch gives the song a more ghostly quality like being alone in an isolated bubble while the world seems to have fun around you but, being distinctively Phoebe Bridgers in mood, it’s also deliciously comforting.

All the proceeds made from Phoebe Bridger’s “So Much Wine” will go to the Los Angeles LGBT Center. – Francesca Rose

:: Crowder ::

Christmas time always brings with it a finely balanced mix of sentimental feelings and pure joie de vivre, but rarely do those two emotions intermingle or coalesce. You’re either merry, laughing, and having fun, or your rosy-cheeked with gratitude and misty-eyed with nostalgia and affection. What makes Crowder’s Milk & Cookies: A Merry Crowder Christmas so special is that it seamlessly marries these qualities into one festive, spiritual, funny record: Heartfelt and hilarious, Crowder’s first Christmas album is a joyful, jolly soundtrack ready to get us into the holiday spirit. Read more about this album – and why we’re in love with new tunes like “Thanks Giver,” “The Elf Song,” and “The Ballad of Mrs. C (she’s sick of the beard),” in this year’s exclusive in-depth interview with Crowder! – Mitch Mosk

Crowder: Well, I love the song thing as the follow up, because when I think back to childhood, my parents had this console record player. It was like a Sears silver tone console record player that was more furniture than music listening electronic device. We’d spend hours on the floor. I think my parents are maybe just more generous with the stereo time during the holidays, but it had the deal where you could stack multiple records on top and it would drop. And we thought it was equal parts magic and science. Me and my brother would just be cruising there in the shag rug listening to magical Christmas songs. It was pretty eclectic – Bing Crosby to Willie Nelson. And Rudolph and Charlie Brown thrown in for the kiddos. But man, those are my memories. When I think of childhood, I think of music and laying in the shag rug in front of the silver tone, which is great when you’re thinking nostalgically going into a Christmas album process.

Crowder: Well, it’s been so fun to tell this story because especially like today is the first interview process where I’ve gotten to tell what actually happened with the movie stuff. So we get a knock on the door, and it’s people from Marvel Studios, and they’re like, “Hey, we’re from Marvel Studios. We make superheroes.” So we’re like, “Ah, we’re familiar.” And they go, “Well, we’re doing a seasonal Christmas special with Guardians Of The Galaxy. And the plot line is the Guardians want to cheer Starlord up, and the best gift they can come up with is to go kidnap Kevin Bacon from Earth and take him to Starlord cause. This is the best long running joke, because in the earlier Guardians, Starlord always listened to his mix, and he’s baffled that they don’t know who Kevin Bacon is – the guy who saved an entire town through dance. He’s, like, this legend. So for the Guardians, Kevin Bacon is the best gift that can be given. And Marvel’s like, “We want to use your home to be Kevin Bacon’s home.” I’m like, “Wait a second, rewind all that. So you want to kidnap Kevin Bacon from my house, which is, in the Marvel universe, Kevin Bacon’s house?” And they’re like, “Yes.” We said, “Absolutely. Yes.”

So Marvel did Christmas like you would expect Marvel to do Christmas, which meant they purchased pretty much all of the inflatable lawn Christmas decor that could be purchased. So our whole lawn just looked like Christmas had thrown up on it. And then indoors, they of course, had done decorations over the top. But one thing we did not see coming. There’s a scene where a Christmas tree goes down. There’s an altercation, physical violence occurs to the tree and the tree goes down. Well, they have stunt trees ready to go to replace the tree that went down. They had all the stunt trees stored in our bedroom, which we were sleeping in still, and every morning I would wake up to – and this is an exact headcount – 16 fully decorated stunt trees. I would wake up at a Marvel magical Christmas forest. You know when you have that good sleep where you’re like, “I don’t know who I am or where I am, or what’s going on?”

It was that every morning for a solid month, and am I ever going to have that opportunity again? No, I don’t think so. This doesn’t happen every day, and so I’m like, “If we’re ever going to make a Christmas album, no doubt, 2022 in the Marvel Universe is the time to make the Christmas album. And am I ever going to have the opportunity to follow up an album titled ‘Milk & Honey’ with ‘Milk & Cookies?” So I had intentions that were known by the universe from the dawn of time, I suspect. So not only did I win the Kevin Bacon game, I also had the perfect festive inspiration that I woke to every morning while making this album. So it was the year of the Crowder Christmas album, no doubt. It’s so fun to tell because it doesn’t make any sense. You’re like, “That’s not a real story.”

Crowder: A lot of the original songs on this album are just hilarious to me. There’s some real heart in it as well, but as I said, music being such a part of what I think about what brings all the feels to me is the music that was associated. It’s like there’s a soundtrack that goes along to the Christmas holidays for me, and it’s been there since I was a child in the crib, so to be able to get to do the same thing and write new stuff, that part really fired me up. I’d always thought about making a Christmas album. You just go cover a bunch of songs and hope for one or two new ones to present themselves. But half of the album is brand new material that I think turned out in a really hysterical way. So that part, I got wound up and didn’t see it coming. And I don’t know if it was just that we were feeling really festive because of living in Christmas decor for several months there, but I wouldn’t have imagined that I would, if it weren’t December, just immerse myself in the spirit of Christmas. And we were immersed to say the least. I think a lot of that came across in the fun nature of these original songs. It just feels very festive and fun. Then getting to pick some of my favorite songs over the years, that was a blast as well.

:: Tyrone Wells ::

COVID isn’t totally behind us, and if it’s not COVID, then it’s likely some other yucky kind of flu or cold that’s going to hit us this winter. If we can’t avoid them then maybe Santa and his crew can’t either. That’s the story behind American singer-songwriter Tyrone Wells’ “Santa Rode a T-Rex,” whereby Blitzen catches COVID and all the reindeers are in quarantine, so Santa uses a dinosaur instead. “I wonder where he found him,” ponders Wells in the song. Magic! Santa can make anything happen!

“Santa Rode a T-Rex” is light and humorous, a little tale told in a strolling manner. It’s a song for all the family, a holiday song that can be enjoyed equally by children. – Francesca Rose

:: Kadhja Bonet ::

Kadhja Bonet: I’ve always avoided the Holidays as best as I can. Growing up I equated the holidays with noise, chaos and increased social obligation. I have Autism Spectrum Disorder and that comes with a certain amount of anxiety, and a certain amount of longing to treat the day like any other. I stopped attending holiday functions as soon as I moved out of my parents house. And there’s other layers to it too – I’m not religious and I am definitely a critic of hyper capitalism so the American holiday season didn’t include me. But now that I have a nearly 3 year old and a Holiday loving partner – I do get caught up in the lights displays and cutesy mythology. It’s been surprisingly pleasant for me, to live Christmas through the eyes of my child. I do think, on some level, I get it now.

Kadhja Bonet: I was trying to make an effort to warm up to Christmas, so that I could make participating less frightening for myself as my son’s first Holiday season approached. I had petitioned to not celebrate and that failed, so I was doing my due diligence, scouring the internet to make the best holiday playlist I could. In doing so I realized – there are quite a lot of good holiday songs out there. Long story short, my fascination kinda snowballed and before you know it I was recording 5 holiday covers and one original.

Kadhja Bonet: I wanted to talk about holidays as kind of time stamps on our lives. As these markers approach, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries of things, you can’t help but conjure memories of years passed, the feelings and activities of those days. So they can create a little portal for you to gain perspective on your life or relationships. Have we grown more apart? More together? There are a lot of people out there that don’t have positive memory associations with the holidays, and they may feel left out by the forced positivity of the Christmas tradition. This is just an honest slice of how my feelings may evolve on a given holiday, as I reflect on my time with a romantic partner.

Kadhja Bonet: My song makes no mention of any one holiday, any one tradition and that’s very intentional. I want this song to apply to any marker of the year, and maybe even use “Holiday” in the British use of the term – as in a little vacation or day off. This song is as applicable any time of the year, for any religion or non religion. I wanted to be as inclusive as possible. It’s also as much about a personal relationship as it is about a person’s relationship with California, which is a place that sucks in many dreamers and holds them there in a toxic bind, while they struggle to make ends meet. California is like the beautiful Siren that guides you in and then crashes your boat on the rocks…. This is a holiday song about how we keep trying to make things work that don’t make sense. By the end of the song, the narrator is sucked back into the relationship, and it’s up to the listener to decide if that was the right choice or not.

:: Maple Glider ::

Maple Glider’s “Mama It’s Christmas” doesn’t feel like a typical holiday song – thus reminding us that, really, Christmas Day is technically just another day of the year. It’s the closing track on the Melbourne-based singer/songwriter’s debut album To Enjoy Is The Only Thing released last year, a collection of songs that’s haunting, gentle and confessional while drawing upon the emotions experienced during two past intense relationships. One is with a boyfriend and the other is growing up as part of a religious cult.

“Mama It’s Christmas” addresses a family member who has disappeared and the pain and worry this causes.

I picked up the phone
Woke my father from his sleep
Couldn’t help but break down

He said, “Child don’t you weep
He’ll be back before morning
It’s not the first time he’s done it this week”

Mama, it’s Christmas time again
Where is my brother?
Where is my friend?
Mama, it’s Christmas time, again
Doesn’t he know I’ve got ribbons to wrap him in

Desolate and intimate, it consists of finger picking guitar with ghostly vocals and the occasional harmonizing. In humanizing Christmas day, it’s a song that’s intended for all year round.

Maple Glider: A lot of my life I never celebrated the holidays, so for a while I kind of just passed through them. I do remember as a kid sometimes we’d drive or walk through the streets with the best lights. One time a traffic controller gave us sherbert flavoured popping candy. The warmest memories I have of the holidays now are the ones I spend at my aunty’s house. My cousins are there, my mum, my brother if we’re lucky. It’s always really hot outside. We usually just talk and laugh and go for walks and eat together. I’ve had a few friendless ones dotted in between, watching Christmas movies, eating hash brownies, playing carols in a restaurant, sitting in an empty food court. It’s an easy time of the year to feel lonely.

I didn’t really ever learn or listen to carols as a kid so I can’t say I’ve ever truly gotten into the classics. I love holiday songs that you want to listen to all year round. Paul Kelly’s ‘How To Make Gravy’. Julia Jacklin’s ‘baby jesus is nobody’s baby now’. I love the stories they tell, the complicated feelings in them.

Maple Glider: I never intended it to be a holiday song. I wrote it because I felt desperate and frustrated. It’s a really sad song for me. In 2017 I sent a demo of the song into a competition run by my (now) Australian record label Pieater to record the song for free in their studios in Naarm/Melbourne. I won the competition and we recorded it that December. Three and a half years later ‘Mama it’s Christmas’ was released on my debut album as one of nine tracks that were recorded in that same studio. That song was the beginning of the whole album, and this project for me.

Maple Glider: I guess the holidays mean something very different for everyone. They can be a sad or stressful time for a lot of people. People experiencing loss, people who have been separated from their families, those who are struggling financially. I don’t really know what the holiday spirit is meant to be, I just wish that capitalism didn’t exist and everyone had the opportunity to hold their loved ones close.

Maple Glider: That it’s okay to be sad on the holidays? It’s okay to be happy too. Haha. I hope you get your holiday wish.

:: Alexander 23 ::

Alexander 23: Honestly, I don’t really like holiday songs. I like “Holiday” by Green Day though!

Alexander 23: It was really just me fooling around and trying to procrastinate not working on my album and then I actually really liked it.

Alexander 23: The holidays are a magnifying glass for whatever is present (pun intended) or missing in your life. This song focuses on the latter.

Alexander 23: It doesn’t have that one bell sound that every holiday song has, so there’s that?

:: Corvair ::

From the instant “I Believe in Christmas” by Corvair kicks in, after a short introduction of snowy sleigh bells and a fast-paced beat resembling reindeers revving up for take off, we are whisked away into a state of dreaminess. Here is a holiday song with a hint of dream pop vibes, atmospheric guitars merged with absorbing vocals, and it’s appropriate given that the holiday period is a time of whimsicality. The song is said to be about being torn between cynicism and surrendering to the Christmas spirit, something emphasized in the opening verse and chorus which contrast the grey pessimism with the sense of welcoming warmth.

Corvair is Heather Karimer and Brian Naubert, a husband and wife duo from Portland, Oregon. “I Believe in Christmas” is their third annual Christmas song, following “Under the Tree” and “Flannel”, and the most magical yet in sound. – Francesca Rose

Heather Larimer (Corvair): We love the holidays so much, even though we are fairly cynical people. It’s a time when you have permission to make things unreasonably beautiful all around you, and to spend real time with people and just enjoy yourself. It’s actually pretty amazing that we all still give ourselves that time and effort, when so many other things are falling apart. It’s edifying.

Our favorite songs are the emotional ones: “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Oh Holy Night,” “The Christmas Song,” “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” And then, the Low Christmas Album is a masterpiece. It inspired so many rock musicians to create Christmas music because Low brought something so profound and reverent to the genre, right as all these very commercial acts were cashing in with Christmas music; Low created an alternate path of sincerity. I personally love Phil Spector’s holiday stuff, and last year I bought two really good vintage records from Brenda Lee and Herb Albert. And then my childhood favorite was John Denver and the Muppets—my brother and I wore that poor disc out.

Heather Larimer: Brian’s dad was in a garage rock band called the Galaxies in Tacoma in the ’60s, and they did a great (semi-famous) split Christmas album with the Sonics and The Wailers, where they all played on each other’s songs. It played non-stop in Brian’s house growing up, and there’s a Sonics song on it called “Don’t Believe in Christmas.” We were talking about how punk that song is, among all these other heartfelt songs, and we were laughing about how we are very un-punk when it comes to Christmas–we actually believe in Christmas. So we decided to write a rebuttal to their song, with a skeptical narrator who veers from being jaded to finally succumbing to the Christmas Spirit.

Recording Christmas music was a given for us when we started the band. Because of Brian’s family tradition via his Dad, he wrote his first Christmas song at age 15 on a Fostex x-15 four track. And I recorded three Christmas songs in my band Eux Autres. And now Corvair has recorded a Christmas song each year so far, and we’ll be releasing a Christmas EP next year. Our band is The Gathering of the Christmas Nerds. And our label in the UK (wiaiwya) is very pro-Christmas. They’ve released two monster Christmas compilations that songs of ours are on.

Heather Larimer: “I Believe in Christmas” is about the internal conflict you feel when you go home for Christmas those first few years after you’ve moved away. There’s this resistance to your hometown and to Christmas nostalgia because you feel you’ve outgrown it all, but then you give in–because you actually need it. You need to be a kid again, to sit in awe of the twinkling lights and be warm and welcomed. It’s restorative—you might be broke in a shitty apartment and hate your job, but Christmas still delivers.

Heather Larimer: We’ve always admired the Christmas songs that don’t pull the tried-and-true strings, unique songs like “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses or “Father Christmas” by the Kinks. So we tried to play with genre and structure on this one. It’s not quite electronic but it’s definitely close and we also tried an anti-chorus. Instead of a swell of giant feelings, it’s more of a vulnerable confession. Of course, we still had to throw in a litany of holiday things in the bridge. Because it’s not Christmas if there’s not something sweet at the table.

:: Sohodolls ::

Sohodolls’ “Dead by Xmas” Hanoi Rocks cover feels as fresh today as it did upon its original release some ten-plus years ago. The English band’s revival in the 2020s – courtesy of TikTok, as well as Maya von Doll’s unrelenting drive – brings with it a resurgence of their early aughts catalog, including this seductive holiday cover that adds more bounce and Sohodolls’ charismatic electronic flare to Hanoi Rocks’ 1982 single. With a long-awaited sophomore album anticipated in 2023, “Dead by Xmas” – and this November’s release, a cover of Slade’s “Merry Xmas Everybody” – make the perfect present as we anxiously await more Sohodolls music in the new year. – Mitch Mosk

Maya von Doll (Sohodolls): I remember seeing a post from a charity saying ‘Please spare a thought for those alone this Christmas’ and thinking ‘Lucky f*cking bastards.’

So my relationship with the holidays is complicated. I love the season and love the cold weather – I just get stressed with large numbers of people being trapped in the same home for days on end. This year I finally put an end to that. It will be a super-slimmed down one. Quiet. Ish.

My favourite holiday songs are the Christmas Carols by the Kings College Cambridge Choir. I have a private ritual of putting those old hymns on and wrapping the presents on my own. Now that my twins are 5, I will be doing this tradition with them. Wish me luck.

My favourite is Hark The Herald Angel Sing because there’s a mind-blowing high harmony that we sang in my school choir. It still gives me goose-bumps. I moved from the middle-east to London when I was 10 and I fell in love with all the Christmas carol singing. I ‘appropriated’ a little blue school hymn-book just before Christmas and sang from it for 2 weeks. I must have driven my family mad.

Maya von Doll: “Dead By Xmas” encapsulates the best and worst of the season- it sounds magical and enchanting but lyrically there’s a sting – like everything Sohodolls! Christmas is like kerosene to whatever emotional state you’re already in. So if you’re feeling rejected, un-loved or jealous you will feel even lower.

It’s festive and joyful yet the song is about being a jealous dead girlfriend who is seething at how quickly her friends and boyfriend get over her death. She berates them from beyond the grave for drinking her best red wine and taking her presents.

Maya von Doll: Glam-rock guitars, Hanoi Rocks pomp, sleigh-bells, new wave ’80s synths and a raucous chorus!

Maya von Doll: “Dead by Xmas” taps in to that lesser-talked about side of Christmas – that it can be a negative experience for some. People who like their own company will struggle to be in large groups. People who are lonely will struggle to be alone again. People who have heart-break will hurt more. But hopefully in being able to laugh about this jealous ghost character who’s missing out on the Christmas below – in our song – people can relate to the fact it’s not all bells and bobtails and happy smiles!

:: Modern Temple ::

Modern Temple: Christmas has always been a special time of year for us. The holiday season in general is great because the joy that is in the air, lifts your spirit so much. But for us especially, we get to celebrate Jesus, family, and giving. We have to say Silent night, Rockin around the Christmas Tree and Wonderful Christmastime are some of our favorite songs around this time!

Modern Temple: I was actually challenged to write a Christmas song in a songwriting group I am in, I had no intention of releasing it with Modern Temple, however the song gained a life of its own and felt like a good fit for our catalog. We really gave it an alternative feel with the harmonies and melodic direction of the song as well as adding a more rhythmic “rap” part in the second verse.

Modern Temple: It really captures the holiday spirit because it starts with our daughter just learning to walk in the song, which shows the importance of family around the holidays. The jingle bell sounds and ambient piano does a good job of capturing the season. But one cool thing I did was sampled the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” in the song to make it that much more of a song for Christmas!

Modern Temple: We really feel that “Reason For The Season” not only stands out sonically as it is an indie pop song at its root, but it carries a message of putting off selfishness and valuing those around you to see the blessings that you already have.

:: Vinnie Caruana & Alex Amiruddin ::

Vinnie Caruana: For me, they resemble a bright light before a long and dark winter. I despise almost every Xmas song. Fairytale Of New York is good though.

Vinnie Caruana: My contribution is the first song I’ve written with Alex Amiruddin since our days in The Movielife together. So probably 21 years since we’ve created together. We went to Jon Markson and made something with no expectations. Held onto the song for a few years and then Rob came along asking if I wanted to contribute. I told him I had this tune with Alex and here we are. Music is magic.

Vinnie Caruana: This is a depressing tune focusing on the day after Xmas, and I die in the song. Jolly!

Vinnie Caruana: This one will surely be unique as far as holiday songs go. Hope you enjoy it!

:: Darcy Fox ::

Darcy Fox: My favourite holiday songs are the more subtle, indie-style ones – girl in red’s ‘two queens in a king sized bed’ and Phoebe Bridgers’ cover of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ for example. I don’t need all the jingle bells to get festive!

Darcy Fox: My muse was obviously my fiancée! After our first Christmas together, I knew I’d have to capture her joy in song-form, somehow. I never really planned to release it, it was just one of those songs I wrote for us. But I think the world could always use some more queer joy, so I changed my mind.

Darcy Fox: It just feels cosy to me! My producer, Cory Jach, and I wanted it to feel like stepping into your living room after a long day and being enveloped by the quiet comfort of the mundane.

Darcy Fox: I’m definitely not the first artist to release a queer Christmas song, but the list isn’t very long. It’s a privilege to add more authentic, joyful representation to that list! And personally, after my own complex coming out journey, I feel so lucky to be able to loudly celebrate my love.

:: vaultboy ::

vaultboy: My family has always been big on Christmas. We would decorate my house to the degree that we were featured on the local news a few times in our town. There was always lots of family and kids at our house all throughout December. It was always a good time, but my favorite holiday song actually came later. I really love “Another Year” by FINNEAS.

vaultboy: I’ve written a few holiday songs in my life but with this one I wanted to do something different. A lot of new songs around the holidays are about love, or miss someone. Instead, I wanted to make a song that captures the nostalgia around Christmas when I was young. It’s lighthearted, but also very authentic to me in a personal way.

vaultboy: In the post chorus of the song I go, “fa la la la la,” over and over. You can’t hear that and not get filled up with holiday spirit dopamine.

vaultboy: It’s got a good balance of “banger pop song” and “holiday vibes and jingle bells”. It’s catchy and positive and perfect for a holiday playlist!

:: Rosie Darling ::

Rosie Darling: I love the holidays! I love to decorate my space with lights to make it feel super cozy! I also love to bake and make all of the festive recipes!

Rosie Darling: I love this song and I always listen to it every year around the holidays, and sometimes when it’s not around the holidays too! It’s so catchy and I wanted to do my own version of it with some pretty harmonies and some guitar. I feel like this version is a little softer which is more my style!

Rosie Darling: You can sort of hear some little bells in the production which I think are so cute! They remind me of little Christmas toys and definitely Christmas music!

Rosie Darling: This cover is not a traditional Christmas song but I think everyone knows it and loves to sing along to it, so I hope that it gets people singing along when they hear it since it’s familiar with just a new vibe!

:: Noah Vela ::

Noah Vela: I grew up Jehovah witness for the latter half of my childhood. So I have missed out on a lot of holidays throughout my life. However, when I would be alone in my room I would find comfort in Christmas songs like mistletoe by Justin Bieber, frosty the snowman by Michael Bublé, and the unique holiday song by Billie Eilish called come out and play.

Noah Vela: What inspired me to record a holiday song was just me waking up one morning and buying sleigh bells on Amazon and telling myself I’m making a Christmas song. I would say I have been holding on to old friends for about a year now give or take and it just felt right. For my music I go off of feeling and I felt that making this song Christmas themed would capture the feeling of being alone and losing everyone best. Being alone on Christmas is something a lot of people feel and go through but don’t talk about because they are embarrassed. Whether they wish they had a bigger family or just friends around to celebrate with and love. This song will be a warm hug for the lonely.

Noah Vela: “Merry Christmas Old Friends” captures the holiday spirit by giving the listener the opposite of what they expected from the song. The holiday spirit to me is all about warmth and my song makes me feel warm like a hug. I look at the holidays as sad happy because for like 95% of the year people are stressed and or depressed yet during this time of year everyone forgets their problems. I didn’t want my listeners to assume I’m having the best holidays or I had the best holidays throughout my life. I want them to hear my song and know they aren’t only one alone on Christmas.

Noah Vela: Having to cut through all the other holidays song out there is hard but everything is hard. All I can do is tell my story, capture a feeling, and tell the truth. I know that the listener will connect. People are always searching for the truth. It is a natural instinct humans have. Whether people believe or not I think everyone knows when someone is lying and or acting. Merry Christmas Old Friends isn’t an act and I think that’s the most important thing about it. The truth.

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MISTLETONES

listen to MISTLETONES on Spotify