The best alternative Christmas songs
Christmas songs are old, and they’re seared into our consciousness. Christmas Alphabet by Dickie Valentine is about to turn 65. Even Noddy Holder’s shouty Merry Xmas Everybody, a number one in 1973, now feels like it’s from the ancient world.
We have all heard enough of Mull of Kintyre and Driving Home For Christmas. Instead of sticking with these tried and tested – but, perhaps tired – classics, a new collection is needed. It’s time to look a little beyond the songs we all grew up with, to discover some originals and some covers.
The Killers – Joseph, Better You Than Me
The Killers called in Elton John and Pet Shop Boy, Neil Tennant for this one. The song tells the story of a beaten down Joseph struggling with fame and the rumours that he isn’t the father of Jesus. It’s ludicrous and bombastic and part of The Killers hit-and-miss collection of annual Christmas songs.
Sufjan Stevens – That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!
Sufan Stevens has delivered albums of wildly divergent styles, including an abortive attempt to write an album about each of the US States. His five-disc, 2006 compendium includes enough orchestration and tasteful Christmas covers to please parents, including three versions of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Somehow, he’s released over 100 Christmas songs in his career.
Kacey Musgraves & Lana Del Rey – I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Breathy chanteuse Lana Del Rey and country star Musgraves’ track is taken from an Amazon Prime Christmas special. It’s a simple song, but the collaboration is lovely. The song takes on newfound meaning this year as we look ahead to our five days of Christmas in our three-household bubbles.
Khruangbin – Christmas Time is Here
The Laidback Texans covered Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas track from the A Charlie Brown Christmas. It doesn’t grab you by the lapels, but it’s good atmospheric psychedelic rock.
She & Him – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Frank Loesser’s original track is over seventy-five years old, and subject to some woke controversy. But on this album, A Very She and Him Christmas ( a 70s-tinged run through of Christmas standards) Baby it’s Cold Outside is the highlight. Rufus Wainwright and Sharon Van Etten released a sinister version of Baby in 2012.
The Shins – Wonderful Christmastime
The Paul McCartney classic is updated, slightly, by The Shins. The guitar is more emphatic, and James Mercer’s voice is as bittersweet as ever. The original, with its B-Side The Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae has yet to find a modern cover.
F***ed Up and Various Artists – Do They Know It’s Christmas
A version with a little more edge. The punk band F***ed Up called upon Andrew WK, indie darlings Vampire Weekend and Tegan & Sara, amongst others, to support a recast version of the 1984 collective endeavour. The lyrics remain as stupid as ever. But it’s an excellent way for F***ed Up to have spent their Polaris Prize money and the track raised money for charities focussed on violence against indigenous women in Canada. Sadly unavailable on Spotify, you can find it on YouTube.
Bob Dylan – Must Be Santa
Featuring a rundown of reindeer which, bizarrely include several US presidents thrown in, Dylan’s cover is polka-styled and downright bizarre, It’s just about the only highlight on his 2009 Christmas record.
Cat Power – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Cat Power, aka Chan Marshall, can deliver simple tracks with weight and emotion. The standard is subtly arranged and features none of the orchestration or bombast of previous versions. Shame it was used in an Apple advert in 2013 to flog iPhones.
Porridge Radio – The Last Time I Saw You (O Christmas)
After a mammoth 2020 where they were nominated for the Hyundai Mercury Prize, Porridge Radio’s newest track is the most recently released song on this list. The slacker indie band’s track doesn’t feature bells, but it’s an angsty nod to the experience of travelling home to your parents at Christmas and being bothered by that ex who always gets in touch.
Chilly Gonzales ft. Jarvis Cocker and Feist – Snow is Falling in Manhattan
Having collaborated in 2017 for an album about a hotel room in LA, Gonzales and Cocker add Canadian singer Feist for a festive number on the pianists 2020 Christmas record. The track is a classy, sparse cover of the David Berman Track, drawing a picture of Manhattan that we’ve seen in countless Christmas films.
Eels – Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
Released in 1996, it’s a Christmas song of its time. It includes the immortal line “There’s a Yuletide groove waiting for you to move”.
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