The temperature’s dropping, the pumpkins are spicing, and folks all around the world are scrambling to make sure their Amazon purchases will be delivered just in time to be wrapped and placed under the tree before Christmas arrives. With that holiday joy making our hearts grow three times bigger, it makes sense to fill up the chilly air with some festive music. If your playlist is lacking this new year, never fear! Here are five new songs—and a musical, thank me later—to add to the queue for Christmas.
This December (Holiday Version) by Ricky Montgomery
This December is a winter classic, always making its rounds when the month begins, but this year it comes to us with a twist. Ricky Montgomery released a holiday version, complete with sleigh bells, twinkling chimes, and upgraded vocals. It keeps the spirit of the original alive while adding to its new Christmas-themed twin, allowing you to add not one but two great new songs to your playlist.
West Virginia Snow by Homemade Haircuts
A South Carolina-native, Homemade Haircuts have wowed us once again with this sweet indie single, West Virginia Snow. Its reminiscence of the holidays as a child is a theme that plenty of young adults are feeling these coming years, and brings up those feelings in a more positive note. It looks back with gentle drums and mandatory sleigh bells, a gateway song to nostalgia heaven.
Last Christmas by Jim and the Povolos
Back again with mandatory sleigh bells, Jim and the Povolos covered the always iconic Last Christmas. It keeps up the eighties style from the original but adds its pop-folk twist with alternating singers, a sweet synth, and angelic harmonies. Despite being done several times in the past, it’s refreshing to watch different musicians from all genres take this song and make it new in their own unique style.
Winter Waltzes by Kaden MacKay
A lesser known artist with angelic singing that shouldn’t be overlooked, Kaden MacKay is giving this season a somber acapella mashup of holiday classics. His voice is nostalgia personified. Winter Waltzes, a collection of songs wrapped in one harmonic package, will throw you back in time to simpler times, reviving that childhood wonder for a four-and-a-half minute stroll through a winter wonderland.
Although this isn’t a single, and not exactly from 2023, A VHS Christmas Carol is a timeless piece that can be listened to at any time. Created by Starkid Productions, with a live version free to watch on YouTube, this album is a modern retelling of A Christmas Carols with an eighties twist. Though it has less jingle bells and more synth, it’s sure to bring out the spirit of Christmas with no skips along the way. If you can’t get enough, the digital ticket for 2023’s expanded rendition is also available on their websites to rent until the end of the year.