Jingle all the way (or at least part of the way) with this year’s holiday music releases…
From rock to pop to country to soul to yacht rock, the sleigh is piled high with new holiday releases from folks in the XPN musical snowglobe. Ben Folds brings merry mirth to Sleigher, a cozy set of tunes that offers both cheeky and sentimental takes on the holidays. Under a snowdrift of reverb, Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, and producer Sonic Boom put their distinctive spin on over a dozen seasonal nuggets on A Peace of Us. The third French hen in Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and Jordan Mailata’s ongoing series of celebrations, A Philly Special Christmas Party boasts Stevie Nicks, Boyz II Men, and more on its jolly guestlist. Another Philly mainstay, G. Love, is dreaming of a laid-back holiday on Fishing for Christmas.
Bay Area soul titans Tower of Power offer horns a-plenty on It’s Christmas. For homespun charm, there’s no greater gift than Valerie June’s stocking stuffer EP, Gifts, Presents, and Treats. With acoustic textures evoking the bleak midwinter, The Milk Carton Kids’ Christmas in a Minor Key is a tender and reverent collection. And for those who would rather Christmas be more like Halloween (a sentiment to which I can relate), the folks at Cleopatra Records assembled their roster of electronic- and industrial-rock elves for We Wish You a Merry Gothmas.
PRESS PLAY on these new releases (and singles from Nation of Language, Madi Diaz, Bartees Strange, Bat for Lashes, David Shaw, King Hannah, and more) below. Listen for these and other new and classic holiday sounds now streaming on Jingle Jams, and later in December on the 32nd annual edition of The Night Before with Robert Drake.